California: Fracked!

Last week, the California Senate passed SB 4, a comprehensive fracking regulation bill authored by environmental champion Senator Fran Pavley. It passed on a party-line vote, with all 28 Democrats voting for it and all 11 Republicans voting against it.

(Take action on fracking now; tell your Assemblymember to stand up to the oil industry and vote YES on SB 4: www.ecovote.org/fracking)

As I watched the vote at my desk on CalChannel, I remembered watching another vote on a different, more narrow fracking bill, SB 1054, just a year before.

Senator Pavley’s SB 1054 would simply have required public notice to surrounding property owners and occupants if an oil or gas well is to be drilled or fracked. The owner or operator of the well would have been responsible for this notice.

Considering that in most cities, your neighbors must alert you if they are going to add on a bathroom to their house, this seemed like it should be an uncontroversial measure.

But it wasn’t.

The oil and gas industry heavily opposed the bill, and it died on the Senate floor, with 18 senators voting for it, 15 voting against it, and 7 abstaining. (You can see how your senator voted here.)

So after that very basic disclosure bill failed last year, it was a big win to pass SB 4, a much more comprehensive fracking bill, through the Senate last week, with 10 more votes.

Senator Pavley’s SB 4 would create accountability and transparency that has so far never existed for fracking in California.  SB 4 would require public notice before fracking can take place. It also would require permits, disclosure of chemicals used, and an independent study of fracking and its risks to California. Specifically, SB 4 would:

  • Require that oil companies obtain permits for fracking and provide at least 30 days advance notice to the public;
  • Require disclosure of the composition of fluids and solvents used in fracking;
  • Facilitate baseline and follow-up testing on water wells and surface water by regional water boards;
  • Require an independent scientific study on fracking be conducted by January 1, 2015, addressing occupational, public, and environmental health;
  • Require annual reports, spot checks, and a state website for fracking information.

So what changed in the last year to make this possible?

CLCV helped elect several more environmental champions to the Senate, but that doesn’t fully explain the 10 vote gain.

Over the past year, there has been a groundswell of advocacy around fracking. Thousands of CLCV members have signed petitions or sent letters to state representatives. Allied organizations have organized rallies throughout the state. And the media has picked up on the issue, running stories throughout the state about the potential effects of fracking on groundwater quality and local water supplies.

Reporter Timm Herdt notes that the oil industry, which fought hard and dirty to oppose Pavley’s election to the Senate last fall, seems taken off guard:

Until this year, the industry has underestimated the public’s passion. It is awakening late to the realization that Californians aren’t comfortable with the fact that there are no requirements that oil drillers tell anyone when or where they are going to employ a practice that involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and toxic chemicals under extremely high pressure deep into the earth, sometimes passing through drinking-water aquifers along the way.

This increased advocacy and public awareness of fracking and its potential dangers has had a huge impact on the vote on SB 4. Legislators have seen that fracking can no longer be ignored, and continue to happen unregulated.

SB 4 made it past its first major hurdle, but now it must go to the Assembly, and if passed there, it must be signed by the governor. Though the momentum is on our side, we can’t take its passage for granted so please take action today – tell your assemblymember to vote for SB 4 in committee and on the Assembly floor.

Posted on June 7, 2013
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