Press Release

Bill to Prevent SoCalGas from Resuming Gas Injections at Aliso Canyon Faces Key Vote

The Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee will hear testimony and vote on Senate Bill 57 on Tuesday, March 21st.  The hearing comes after weeks of delay since the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee voted 7-2 in favor of the urgency measure.

Senator Henry Stern introduced SB 57 to require the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) to complete the root cause analysis (RCA) determining the cause of the leak before considering whether to lift the moratorium on natural gas injections. A lawsuit filed by the County of Los Angeles in early March also seeks to clarify that a completed RCA and an analysis of seismic risks are considered necessary components of the “comprehensive safety review” required by SB 380 (Pavley 2016).

WHAT:  Committee vote on SB 57

WHEN:  Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: State Capitol, Room 3191

SCHEDULED TO TESTIFY:

  • Chief John Todd, Los Angeles County Fire Department
  • Ted Light, Project Manager, EES Consulting Engineering and Management Services
  • Diana Vazquez, Policy Advocate, California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA)

SB 57 has broad bipartisan support including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, State Senators Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and Scott Wilk (R-Antelope Valley), Assemblyman Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita), the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council.

**Watch Committee livestream here.