Oil spill Legislation

The legislative period is filled with twists and turns, on a yearly basis. This current year, the Surfrider Foundation and our partners supported four items of legislation that will improve oil spill avoidance and answers to assist avoid another spill like the Plains Oil Spill in Santa Barbara happen in Ca.

Sadly, one of several bills (SB 788) did not endure under the body weight of this oil industry lobby. SB 788 would have shut a loophole that allows new drilling when national operations tend to be draining oil from State waters.

In the bright side, three essential bits of legislation tend to be going into the Governor’s work desk. The remaining expenses will help improve reaction procedures, require automatic shutoff technology, and increase security inspections:

• Senate Bill 414 (Jackson) Would need the state Office of Spill protection and Response (OSPR) to generate a voluntary program for neighborhood anglers to-be paid technicians that obtain instruction and can immediately answer oil spills. Pre-position oil skimmers along the Santa Barbara Coastline and require study on “best readily available technology.” & Most notably, bans employing chemical dispersants in state oceans until.
• Assembly Bill 864 (Williams) all-oil contingency programs for a pipeline in environmentally sensitive places (in condition oceans or even the shore) must consist of “best available technology”, including automatic shutoff to lessen oil effects.
• Senate Bill 295 (Jackson) needs yearly oil pipeline inspections for all intra-state pipelines and would reestablish the State Fire Marshal’s part in needing hydrostatic pressure checks as essential, in addition to examining federally regulated pipelines.