California AG opposes Sable Offshore special permit for pipeline

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a comment letter opposing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s consideration of Sable Offshore’s (SOC) request for a special permit to waive a safety regulation and transport oil through Lines CA-324 and CA-325 in Santa Barbara and Kern counties. “PHSMA illegally purports to assert exclusive federal jurisdiction over the onshore Lines CA-324 and CA-325 by reclassifying them as ‘interstate,’ and issued Sable an emergency permit waiving compliance with its own safety regulation requiring evaluation and remediation of pipeline corrosion,” Bonta said in a statement. Attorney General Bonta argues that” PHMSA is without jurisdiction to issue any special permit because the pipelines are intrastate, and therefore subject to state regulation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal rather than PHMSA.”