California Oil and Gas Rulemaking

In 2019, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 1057 (AB 1057, Limón), which changed the agency’s name and updated its mission to prioritize the protection of public health, safety, and the environment. To fulfill its new mission, the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) began undertaking a rulemaking process to update public health and safety protections for communities near oil and gas production operations. This process began in response to a November 2019 directive by Governor Gavin Newsom.

In 2020, CalGEM selected Dr. Seth Shonkoff, PSE’s executive director, and Dr. Rachel Morello-Frosch, an environmental health scientist and Professor at the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, to co-chair the Scientific Advisory Panel. The Scientific Advisory Panel consisted of 15 experts in oil and gas, toxicology, epidemiology, medicine, and environmental public health. The panel was formed to provide scientific guidance to CalGEM as they updated their regulations to better protect community health and was the first of its kind in CalGEM’s more than 100 year history.

On December 31, 2020, CalGEM released Draft Regulations Update: Protecting Communities from Health Impacts of Oil Production. On October 1 2021, the Science Advisory Panel responded to questions from CalGEM. On July 24, 2024 CalGEM published the final report by the Public Health Science Advisory Panel.