Another lawsuit has been filed against controversial Senate Bill 1137. SB1137 was passed in 2022 and became law two years later. It is now facing its fourth legal challenge. Assemblyman Stan Ellis, representing the 32nd Assembly District said he supports the suits and thinks the law is an unlawful take of private rights.
When you figure the of radius 3200-foot setback from wells, that comes out to about 740 acres per well. The property owners also own the mineral rights to that land just got screw out of their mineral rights by the state. That’s terrible,” Ellis said.
Assemblyman Ellis also stated that “Kern County’s now permitting of 2,000 wells per year for the next 10 years is a small step, but combined with abolishing CARB and SB1137, it will make a big difference.”
“Get rid of SB1137 and CARB and you will ‘unleash the beast” and in two or three years you are going to see a big difference.”