SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Senate has passed a bill t affirming local governments’ authority to protect their communities by limiting or banning oil and gas operations, methods and locations. The bill also passed the Assembly concurrence vote and now goes to the governor for a final signature.

Assembly Bill 3233 is sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity. It affirms the right of communities to make decisions about oil and gas operations that pose grave threats to public health, wildlife and the climate.

“Reaffirming local control over oil and gas development has never been more important, so this is a huge step forward,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Lawmakers have shown how to take on Big Oil and win. Local governments are at the center of that fight, and this bill gives them the tools to fight back against industry threats and intimidation.”

“Communities should be able to make decisions about the oil and gas projects in their own backyards,” said Dr. Laura Solorio, president of Protect Monterey County. “This bill is vital to protecting democracy as well as our health and environment.”

In recent years, communities like Monterey, San Benito and Los Angeles have taken steps to limit oil and gas operations. Such local measures have faced fierce oil industry opposition.

In Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. County of Monterey, the California Supreme Court in 2023 overturned parts of Monterey’s overwhelmingly voter-approved Measure Z that would have phased out oil industry wastewater disposal and banned the drilling of new wells. The oil industry has weaponized that decision to attack local ordinances that limit drilling, such as those passed in the city and county of Los Angeles.

A.B. 3233 would clarify that state statutes acknowledge and provide local authority to protect frontline communities and other residents from dangerous pollution, safety hazards and greenhouse gas emissions caused by fossil fuel extraction.