Oil and gas: low-production wells: Baldwin Hills Conservancy: Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account: health impacts., the official text

An act to amend Section 3206.1.5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to oil and gas.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law requires the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, on or before March 1, 2025, to identify all low-production wells, as defined, that are located in the County of Los Angeles in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, as provided. Existing law prohibits, commencing March 1, 2026, the owners of those wells from allowing those wells to be low-production wells for more than 12 months. Upon a violation of that prohibition, existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to charge an administrative penalty of $10,000 per month to the low-production well owner, until the low-production well is plugged and abandoned, as provided.
Existing law requires the plugging and abandoning of all wells located in the County of Los Angeles in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy by December 31, 2030. Existing law requires the supervisor, on and after January 1, 2031, to charge the owner of a well an administrative penalty of $10,000 per month for a violation of that requirement, until the well is plugged and abandoned.
Existing law establishes the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, requires the above-described administrative penalties to be deposited into the account, and makes the funds from the account available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Conservation for allocation to the County of Los Angeles for projects that benefit communities living within 212 miles of the identified low-production wells, as provided.
This bill would require the Department of Conservation, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the terms of the appropriation, to distribute the first $5,000,000 deposited into the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, after accounting for appropriations made for administrative purposes, to be allocated to the County of Los Angeles to disburse in direct cash assistance in equal amounts to individuals living within 212 miles of the identified low production wells who have respiratory or reproductive health impacts. The bill would require the county to establish processes for individuals to verify that they meet the residency and health-impact requirements, as provided. The bill would require the application process for direct cash assistance to be noninvasive, simple, and standardized. The bill would require the department, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, to distribute to the county for administrative purposes an amount that does not exceed 10% of the programmatic appropriation. By imposing new duties on the County of Los Angeles, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 3206.1.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
3206.1.5.
(a) On or before March 1, 2025, the division shall identify all low-production wells that are located in a county of the first class in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy. The division shall determine the length of time those low-production wells have continuously been low-production wells. The division shall consider whether and for how long a well was shut-in for maintenance and subtract that from the calculation of the length of time a well meets the definition of a low-production well.
(b) On or before March 1, 2026, the division shall notify the owners of low-production wells identified in subdivision (a) of the prohibition on operating a low-production well for more than 12 months, as described in subdivision (c).
(c) On and after March 1, 2026, a well identified pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be a low-production well for more than 12 months.
(d) The supervisor shall charge an administrative penalty of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month to a low-production well owner in violation of subdivision (c) until the low-production well is plugged and abandoned pursuant to Section 3208. Penalties shall be remitted annually on a schedule determined by the supervisor. The low-production well site shall not be required to be remediated until oil and gas operations cease.
(e) The division shall waive the penalty in subdivision (d) on a low-production well when the owner submits a request for approval of a notice of intention pursuant to Section 3203 to plug and abandon the well. If work to plug and abandon the well does not start before the notice of intention expires, the division shall resume assessing the penalty on the well owner. A well owner who has an approved notice of intention to plug and abandon a well in accordance with Section 3208 shall not apply for approval of another notice of intention to plug and abandon the same well in a two-year period unless the supervisor determines that the well poses a present danger to life, health, or natural resources.
(f) (1) All funds collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, which is hereby created in the State Treasury as a special fund administered by the Department of Conservation.
(2) Funds from the account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Conservation for allocation to a county of the first class.
(3) (A) The Department of Conservation shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the terms of the appropriation, distribute the first five million dollars ($5,000,000) deposited into the account, after accounting for funds appropriated by the Legislature for the county’s administrative costs pursuant to subparagraph (E), to the county to disburse in direct cash assistance to individuals living within two and one-half miles of the oil wells identified in subdivision (a) who request direct cash assistance, have respiratory or reproductive health impacts, as verified pursuant to subparagraph (C), and are verified as meeting the residency requirements as described in subparagraph (B). The county shall distribute direct cash assistance, to the extent funds are available, in an equal amount to each verified program participant.
(B) The county shall require an individual requesting direct cash assistance pursuant to subparagraph (A) to verify their residence. An individual may verify their residence through any of the following means:
(i) Department of Motor Vehicles records.
(ii) Tax filings.
(iii) Voter registration.
(iv) Utility billing records.
(v) Any other means the county determines to be sufficient for verifying residency.
(C) The county shall establish a process for purposes of verifying that an individual has respiratory or reproductive health impacts. This process may include self-attestation.
(D) The application process for direct cash assistance pursuant to this paragraph shall be noninvasive, simple, and standardized.
(E) (i) The Department of Conservation shall, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature from the account for administrative purposes, distribute to the county for the county to expend for administrative purposes an amount that does not exceed 10 percent of the amount appropriated for programmatic purposes pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(ii) If the Legislature makes the appropriation described in clause (i), the source of the appropriation shall be the initial money deposited into the account.
(4) The county may, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the terms of the appropriation, contract with entities within its jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, cities, state conservancies, joint powers authorities, and nonprofit organizations to use the funds for projects listed in subparagraphs (A) to (E), inclusive, to the extent that these projects benefit communities living within two and one-half miles of the oil wells identified in subdivision (a). The projects listed in subparagraphs (A) to (E), inclusive, shall not receive funding until the funds reserved pursuant to paragraph (3) have been distributed.
(A) Park creation or expansion and maintenance of new outdoor amenities in park-poor neighborhoods.
(B) Urban greening.
(C) Affordable housing needed to accommodate community needs.
(D) Climate mitigation and resilience.
(E) Community benefit projects with environmental cobenefits.
(5) (A) The Legislature shall not allow the account balance to exceed twenty million dollars ($20,000,000).
(B) Until December 31, 2030, the Legislature shall not allow the account balance to exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000) once 50 percent of all wells that meet the conditions specified in subdivision (a) have been plugged and abandoned.
(C) Commencing January 1, 2031, the Legislature shall not allow the account balance to exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000) once 50 percent of all wells that meet the conditions specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) have been plugged and abandoned.
(g) (1) All wells, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 3008, that are located in a county of the first class in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy shall be plugged and abandoned by December 31, 2030.
(2) An owner of an idle well or long-term idle well that is located in a county of the first class in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy may adjust the terms of an idle well management plan required pursuant to Section 3206, as needed, to accomplish the plugging and abandonment of those covered wells by December 31, 2030.
(3) (A) On and after January 1, 2031, the supervisor shall charge an administrative penalty of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month to a well owner in violation of paragraph (1) until the well is plugged and abandoned pursuant to Section 3208.
(B) The supervisor shall not charge an administrative penalty pursuant to subparagraph (A) for a violation by a well owner if the supervisor has already charged an administrative penalty to that well owner for a violation, applicable to the same well and covering the same time period, pursuant to subdivision (d).

SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.