Kern County reinstates local oil-and-gas permitting, certifies supplemental EIR

The Kern County Board of Supervisors on June 26 certified a second supplemental recirculated environmental impact report and voted to re-enact revisions to Title 19 of the county zoning ordinance that return limited local permitting authority for oil and gas activities in unincorporated Kern County.

The action, moved by Supervisor Zack Peters and seconded by Supervisor Chris Parlier, directs staff to adopt the revised findings of fact and statement of overriding considerations, a mitigation monitoring and reporting program, and an ordinance implementing the Title 19 amendments. "I'll make a motion to approve staff's recommendation," Peters said before the vote, which passed with all five supervisors voting yes.

The SSR EIR and ordinance package updates county rules originally adopted in 2015 and rescinded after court challenges. Laura Lai Oviatt, director of Kern County Planning and Natural Resources, told the board the package responds to three topics the courts ordered revisited: agricultural resources, setbacks from sensitive receptors after a multi-well health risk assessment was invalidated, and analysis of oil operations' use of potable water as it relates to disadvantaged communities. "The proposed project consists of revisions to title 19 of the Kern County Zoning Ordinance with emphasis on chapter 19.98, oil and gas production…