California Governor Newsom signs a law that delays the oil industry's detection of leaks in communities

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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Monday that gives oil and gas companies several additional years before they begin identifying and repairing wells near homes and schools that leak into the air and water.

Companies won't be required to monitor their oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of California residential areas for leaks until July 2030 – three and a half years later than the deadline Newsom and lawmakers legislated two years ago.

The slowdown in protecting communities near wells comes as Newsom praises his administration's agenda of cracking down on the oil industry and phasing out fossil fuels.

The request for a delay came not from oil companies, but from the Newsom administration. State air and water regulators said they needed more time to hire staff, test leak detection techniques and develop specific guidelines.

“The delay is extremely concerning and will force frontline communities to wait longer for much-needed pollution protection,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the group’s Climate Law Institute. “We celebrate the groundbreaking achievements (that other) bills represent, but we will not rest until all Californians have the oil and gas pollution-free future they deserve.”

More than 2.5 million Californians – including many in Long Beach, Los Angeles and Kern County – live within 3,200 feet of an oil or gas well, predominantly in low-income communities of color. Oil wells can release dangerous pollutants into the air and groundwater, and research has linked a number of health effects, including a higher incidence of premature and low birth weight babies, to people's proximity to wells.

In August, the Newsom administration unveiled a plan to extend the law's various deadlines, including for leak detection, by more than four years, saying state officials needed more time to implement it. Environmentalists supported a two-year delay.

In the end, lawmakers agreed on three and a half years and set a new deadline: July 2029 for companies to submit leak detection and response plans and July 2030 for their implementation. Originally, companies were supposed to detect and fix leaks by January 2027. The Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 45 to 14; The Senate voted 30-9.

“After careful consideration and negotiations, I am pleased that consensus has been reached to implement this important legislation to protect California families from the dangers of oil pollution from oil drilling,” said State Senator Lena A. Gonzalez, a Democrat from Long Beach, who sponsored the bill drafted the original law, it said in an emailed statement at the time.

Oil company executives say the law will cut jobs, drive up gasoline prices and increase California's dependence on oil imports. Industry estimates compliance will cost about $40 million in the first two years.

The industry had tried to completely repeal the two-year-old law through a ballot measure, but decided in June to abandon that effort.

Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, said the delays make sense because the ballot proposal process has interrupted implementation and therefore a new starting point is needed. He said a key focus of the law, the ban on new wells or work on existing wells within the buffer zone, remains in place.

Under three other laws signed by Newsom last week, California will speed up the cleanup of the state's abandoned oil wells, close a low-producing oil field in Los Angeles County and allow cities and counties to restrict oil drilling.

Newsom also called the Legislature into a special session to address gas prices, giving him more time to persuade lawmakers to act on a package of energy bills that he was unable to push through in the final weeks of the regular session .