The United States filed a lawsuit challenging a California law (<a href="https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB1137/id/2606996">SB 1137</a>) enacted in 2022 that restricts fossil fuel operations within 3,200 feet of certain “sensitive receptors” such as homes, schools, and health care facilities. SB 1137’s legislative findings cited “increasing impacts of climate change” and “a growing body of research” showing “direct health impacts from proximity to oil extraction,” that disproportionately impact communities most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. The law stated that “[f]urther assistance must be provided to frontline communities that have been most polluted by the fossil fuel industry by cleaning up pollution, remediating negative health impacts, and building resilient infrastructure to prepare for the unavoidable impacts of climate change.” The U.S. asserted that federal law preempted SB 1137’s restrictions because their “categorical prohibition on certain fossil fuel development on federal lands … stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of Congress’s objectives … to promote the responsible development of fossil fuel resources on federal lands,” as reflected in the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and other federal statutes. In addition, the U.S. asserted that the California law conflicted with the Constitution’s Property Clause by interfering with property interests in the federal mineral estate and violated the intergovernmental immunity doctrine by directly regulating the federal government.

Lawsuit brought by the United States challenging a California law that imposes setback restrictions on fossil fuel operations near "sensitive receptors."

United States v. California

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

United States Challenged California Setback Law for Fossil Fuel Operations

Filed

United States of America

California

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Heat extracted from the ground, usually in the form of hot water or steam and typically referred to as hydrothermal fluid.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

United States Challenged California Setback Law for Fossil Fuel Operations

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance