Photo courtesy of Los Padres ForestWatch.
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BLM issues Records of Decision for Bakersfield and Central Coast regions, ignoring state health protections and fracking ban
CENTRAL COAST — Environmental organizations across California are condemning Trump’s Bureau of Land Management’s approval of oil and gas leasing and development plans for both the Bakersfield and Central Coast field office regions—a decision that critics argue was a rushed, legally deficient move that ignores California law, bypasses the public, and offers some of the state’s most beloved public lands over to the fossil fuel industry.
The BLM issued the approvals without allowing the standard 60-day Governor’s Consistency Review period required before a federal land use decision affecting California can be finalized, and without responding to formal administrative protests filed by community organizations. That review exists precisely to ensure federal actions do not conflict with state law and policy—and this decision is in direct, flagrant conflict with both.
Among the state laws the BLM has chosen to ignore: SB 1137, California’s landmark legislation establishing 3,200-foot health and safety buffer zones between oil and gas drilling operations and sensitive receptors including homes, schools, daycares, and hospitals; and California’s ban on fracking, which prohibits the dangerous well stimulation practice contemplated in the BLM’s plans.
“The Trump administration didn’t just ignore the public—it ignored the law,” said Jeff Kuyper, Executive Director of Los Padres ForestWatch. “Issuing these approvals without the Governor’s Consistency Review, without regard for SB 1137, and without honoring California’s fracking ban is not just procedurally reckless—it is an affront to every Californian who has fought for cleaner air, safer communities, and protected public lands.”
The BLM’s action comes after nearly half a million public comments were submitted opposing Trump’s “drill baby drill” agenda onshore and offshore across California—one of the largest public comment mobilizations in recent memory. Those voices have been summarily dismissed.
Pursuant to the terms of a settlement agreement between conservation organizations at the BLM, the agency’s quarterly oil and gas sales were held in abeyance while the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and Records of Decision (RODs) were completed. Now that the RODs have been issued, the leasing process can move forward.
The next step allows oil companies to submit Expressions of Interest, identifying specific federal parcels they wish to lease. The BLM then determines which parcels to include in a future quarterly lease sale. Traditionally, the agency prepares site-specific environmental analyses for those parcels and provides opportunities for public comment and administrative protests before leases are finalized. However, recent changes limit that analysis and opportunities for public input.
The agency’s plans open more than a million acres of California’s public lands and federal mineral estate to oil and gas leasing across Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Ventura, Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Merced, and San Joaquin counties—threatening communities, wildlife, drinking water, and air quality across some of the most pollution-burdened regions of the state. These are the same communities that already breathe some of the worst air in the nation.
This is the third time in a decade the BLM has attempted to ram through oil and gas expansion in the Bakersfield region, and the second such attempt for the Central Coast. Litigation previously halted both.
“The public made its voice loud and clear. Nobody wants to spoil our parks and neighborhoods with new oil drilling,” said Benjamin Pitterle, Director of Advocacy and Field Operations at Los Padres ForestWatch. “The BLM’s response was to rush through a final decision before the Governor even had any opportunity to weigh in. This is just rubber stamping for the oil industry. “
The BLM’s final decisions—issued under Secretary’s Order 3418, which directs federal agencies to maximize fossil fuel development on public lands—also rely on analyses that are more than a decade old, failing to account for the accelerating climate crisis, updated public health research on proximity to drilling, or California’s own sweeping policy changes to protect communities from fossil fuel harm.
At the same time it finalized these leasing plans, the BLM announced a proposal that would dramatically weaken environmental review and public participation for future federal oil and gas lease sales. The proposal, which is open for public comment through late August, would:
- Allow the BLM to lease parcels even when drilling could cause unnecessary or undue degradation to important fish and wildlife habitat, sacred sites, historic properties, and recreation areas such as trails and campgrounds.
- Reduce opportunities for public participation from a cumulative 90-day review process to a single 10-day protest period.
- Allow the agency to charge the public $1 per page to file administrative protests, even though protests often include hundreds of pages of supporting scientific studies and technical documents.
- Eliminate requirements that operators notify private surface landowners when federally owned mineral rights beneath their property are offered for lease.
- Significantly reduce costs to the oil industry by lowering lease application fees from $3,100 to $155, reducing royalty rates from 16.67% to 12.5%, and slashing bonding requirements for both individuals and statewide leases.
This leasing plan threatens public lands near Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks; Carrizo Plain National Monument; the Los Padres, Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests; and state and county parks and beaches like Montaña de Oro State Park and Port Hueneme Beach Park— places that millions of Californians depend on for clean water, clean air, outdoor recreation, and refuge.
The Last Chance Alliance is calling on Governor Newsom and state agencies and departments to formally object to these decisions and assert California’s rights under federal and state law. Members of the Last Chance Alliance and allies said the following:
“We’ll fight this with everything we’ve got,” said Cooper Kass, an attorney for the Center of Biological Diversity. “It’s a reckless decision that shows who’s really calling the shots at the White House. From Ventura to the Bay Area, California’s public lands have always been a refuge for people and wildlife. We’ve got to protect these places and our communities from a government hellbent on lining this toxic industry’s pockets.”
“BLM’s decision to rush this process shows just how much Trump and the fossil fuel industry are walking in lockstep to the detriment of our public lands and environment,” said Food & Water Watch California Director Nicole Ghio. “Californians have made it abundantly clear that we don’t want drilling on our public lands and it’s despicable that the Trump Administration is so eager to disregard anyone who dares stand up to it.”
“California leaders won’t meet the people’s climate goals if they allow the Trump administration to vastly expand oil and gas operations on beloved public lands in already burdened areas,” said Miguel Miguel, Director of Sierra Club California. “Affordability goals won’t fare any better. These corporate giveaways are doing nothing to reduce energy prices. They block access to public lands, harm wildlife, destroy cultural resources and leave pollution in the air and water of communities who later often pick up the tab for the mess.
“By ramping up the timeline the BLM is deifying procedures that protect our public lands. America’s public lands are owned by We the People. A right protected by Congress. We the People will not see the profits from the oil and gas industry as we continue to be subjected to price volatility at the gas pump. We will see the devastation and destruction to the California environment. Once the drilling starts those areas will be lost to everyone,” said Ramona Cornell du Houx, Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) Communications Director. “Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) will do everything within our power to stop this apparent land grab for the oil and gas industry.”
About Los Padres ForestWatch
Los Padres ForestWatch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that protects wildlife, water, wilderness, and sustainable access throughout Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument through advocacy, education, and community engagement. Follow ForestWatch on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. Learn more at forestwatch.org