Coastal resources: oil and gas development.

Assembly Member Hart's coastal resources legislation revises California's oversight of oil and gas infrastructure on state tidelands and submerged lands. The bill modifies the approval process for lease changes, strengthens requirements for pipeline transportation, and updates permitting standards for facility reactivation.

The measure requires the State Lands Commission and local trustees to conduct enhanced reviews before approving lease renewals, extensions, amendments or assignments for oil and gas infrastructure. Applications must be publicly noticed 180 days before action, during which time authorities must evaluate factors including marine environmental protection, public safety needs, and potential impacts on oil transport volumes. Operators seeking lease changes must demonstrate financial responsibility through bonds and spill prevention certificates.

For offshore oil production, the legislation mandates pipeline-only transportation using specified technology standards both for moving oil to shore and delivering it to processing facilities. It expands the definition of "expanded oil extraction" to include reactivating facilities idle for over three years and increasing production through methods like hydraulic fracturing or extended reach drilling. Facilities inactive for five or more years must obtain new coastal development permits before resuming operations.

The bill maintains existing liability requirements for lease transfers while establishing a process through which original lessees may seek release from obligations by providing independent cost estimates and additional financial security. Local agencies retain authority to levy fees covering new administrative responsibilities, though other state-mandated costs qualify for reimbursement through established procedures.