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The SSR EIR and ordinance package updates county rules originally adopted in 2015 and rescinded after court challenges.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 local permitting," Oviatt said.

Key mitigation and implementation points included in the adopted package: - Agricultural mitigation: applicants must provide a one‑to‑one agricultural conservation easement (acre for acre) or an equivalent executed easement when a new well disturbs farmland that meets the county's criteria; legacy equipment removal also remains a mitigation pathway. Staff said the earlier permitting record documented about 52.35 acres affected over 11,000 previously issued permits. - Sensitive‑receptor setbacks: the county's ordinance as adopted will not establish local permitting inside the state health protection zones created under Senate Bill 1137 (a 3,200‑foot buffer around identified sensitive receptors). Oviatt told the board that permitting and enforcement inside those zones will remain with the state agency CalGEM while the county conforms to the state law. - Water mitigation for disadvantaged communities: the county will require a fee of $9,732 per new well (applies only to new wells, not reworks or sidetracks). That per‑well payment will be directed to a disadvantaged communities water relief fund to be used as matching funds and for consolidation, infrastructure replacement and other projects in affected areas; staff projected collections between about $11.7 million and $26.3 million depending on permit volumes and committed to an annual report to the board and public hearing on fund use.

Supporters — including trade groups WISPA and CIPA and operators such as Chevron, California Resources Corporation and Berry Corporation — argued the ordinance provides regulatory certainty and local control that will restore permitting volume and local jobs. "WISPA members are committed to assuring their operations comply with all state, local, and federal laws," Suzanne Noble of the Western States Petroleum Association told supervisors. Industry speakers highlighted local employment, purchasing and charitable contributions to argue for reimplementation of a local permitting pathway.

Opponents and environmental justice groups said the ordinance streamlines large numbers of new wells and that county review should include additional local setbacks and more site‑specific review for projects located near disadvantaged communities. Representatives of the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment, Sierra Club, Last Chance Alliance and other groups urged the board to adopt the science advisory recommendations in full and to prioritize public health and site‑specific analysis.

Board and staff discussion noted the ordinance has been litigated for nearly a decade. Oviatt told the board the county's ordinance mirrors the 2015 ordinance with limited changes to comply with the SSR EIR and court directions; she also said the county cannot begin permitting immediately — the ordinance takes effect after 30 days and remaining legal processes must be resolved before the county resumes permitting that CalGEM paused in recent years. "These are the steps to compliance," Oviatt said of the agricultural easement adjustments, and she outlined the annual reporting and monitoring program for the water relief fund.

The board instructed staff to proceed with the administrative steps necessary to implement the ordinance and monitoring program. The supervisors did not set a local permit program for activities within SB 1137 health protection zones; Oviatt said such permitting will remain with the state while CalGEM completes its rulemaking and implementation. The board approved the staff recommendation by a unanimous vote of 5‑0.

The vote concludes a phase of the county's years‑long effort to reestablish a local ministerial pathway for many types of oil and gas permits while adding mitigation intended to address farmland impacts, public health setbacks mandated by state law, and water supply assistance for disadvantaged communities. The county's adopted package includes the revised ordinance text, mitigation monitoring program, findings of fact and a statement of overriding considerations as presented in staff exhibits.