Oil and gas: low-production wells: Baldwin Hills Conservancy: Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account.

Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells, as provided. Existing law requires the operator of a well to file a written notice of intention to commence drilling with, and prohibits any drilling until approval is given by, the supervisor or district deputy. Existing law requires the operator of any idle well, as defined, to either (1) no later than May 1 of each year, for each idle well that was an idle well at any time in the last calendar year, file with the supervisor an annual fee according to a specified schedule of fees based on the length of time a well has been idle, or (2) file a plan with the supervisor to provide for the management and elimination of all long-term idle wells. A violation of these or other laws regulating oil and gas operations, as provided, is a crime. This bill would require the division, 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, and determine the length of time each of those wells has continuously been a low-production well, as provided. The bill would prohibit, 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, the bill would require the 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. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would establish the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, require these administrative penalties to be deposited into the account, and make 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 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. The bill would require 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, to be deposited in the account, as provided. The bill would authorize the owner of an idle well or long-term idle well subject to this requirement to adjust the terms of the above-described idle well management plan to accomplish the plugging and abandoning of those covered wells by December 31, 2030. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would state that the Legislature shall not allow the account balance to exceed specified amounts, determined as provided. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.