Mayor Karen Bass signed an ordinance Oct. 29 that bans new oil and gas drilling across Los Angeles and puts existing wells on a 20-year countdown to closure.

The signing came one day after the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 to approve the measure, according to the Daily News. Council members Imelda Padilla and Curren Price were absent during the vote, according to Westside Current reporting on the council session.

The ordinance contains an urgency clause, meaning the 20-year phaseout period begins upon publication following the mayor's approval, according to the Daily News. A legal challenge could complicate implementation.

What the ordinance does

The law prohibits new oil and gas wells citywide and labels existing extraction operations as nonconforming land uses, according to the mayor's office. All remaining operations must cease within 20 years of the effective date unless an earlier deadline applies.

Operators generally cannot expand, deepen or redrill wells during the phaseout, with limited exceptions for public health, safety or environmental threats, according to the Daily News. Wells idle for a continuous year would be permanently barred from resuming operations.

The restrictions would affect more than 600 active and 1,200 idle oil wells, according to STAND-LA. City officials have separately cited more than 2,000 active wells.

Health risks near drill sites

Residents living near oil wells face higher risks of childhood asthma, preterm labor and respiratory illness, according to city officials. Those burdens have fallen disproportionately on frontline communities and communities of color, particularly where operations sit near homes, schools, parks, places of worship and health care facilities, according to the Westside Current.

"For too long, communities throughout Los Angeles have lived with the impacts of oil and gas drilling in their neighborhoods, leading to significant health conditions," Bass said in a statement. "We're changing this."

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said in a statement that "in South LA, working-class families have had corporations drilling across the street from their homes."

This is the city's second attempt. The council approved an earlier drilling phaseout in December 2022. Oil companies challenged that ordinance in four lawsuits. On Sept. 6, 2024, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin ruled the ordinance was preempted by state law, according to the Daily News.

Less than three weeks later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 3233 (AB 3233), which expressly authorized local governments to restrict oil and gas operations. The city then drafted a revised ordinance under the new state law.

Industry promises another lawsuit

The California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA) said Oct. 28 that it intends to challenge the revised ordinance in court, according to the Daily News.

Rock Zierman, CIPA's chief executive officer, called the ordinance "an illegal taking." He argued that restricting local production would increase dependence on imported petroleum and raise gasoline prices.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky acknowledged the city expects another legal challenge. "We know we're going to get sued, and it's important that we show that we've done our work here," Yaroslavsky said, according to the Daily News.

Kendall Chappell, a legal fellow with Communities for a Better Environment, said AB 3233 now explicitly recognizes local governments' authority to restrict drilling, putting the revised ordinance on stronger legal footing, according to the Daily News.

Advocates say work remains

Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling (STAND-LA), credited by city officials with 14 years of advocacy, welcomed the signing but stressed the phaseout does not immediately end residents' exposure to drilling. "While this is an important step, signing this ordinance today is not the end, but instead the start of the City's commitment to environmental justice," the coalition said in a statement.

Chappell said the coalition continues to push for closure of two drilling sites that advocates say have repeatedly violated regulations: the Warren E&P Banning site and the E&B Murphy site, according to the Daily News.