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At the end of last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new legislation to end special treatment for oil and gas companies seeking to develop facilities along the California coast while simultaneously bolstering offshore wind development efforts.

Senate Bill 704, introduced by state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), removes a 1970s-era loophole – the “industrial override” provision of the California Coastal Act – that allows oil and gas companies to develop facilities in the coastal zone, including new or expanded refineries and petrochemical plants, without having to comply with state resource protection policies, as long as certain requirements are met. 

What exactly does this mean for Humboldt?

Humboldt Bay has approximately 1,200 acres zoned for Coastal-Dependent Industrial uses — meaning, any industry built in those areas must be somehow dependent on the sea. Planning for CDI uses was done in the 1970s, when demand for land to accommodate sea-dependent businesses was much higher than it is now. The Humboldt Bay Area Plan, a component of the county’s Local Coastal Program, includes marine oil terminals and offshore oil service or supply bases as “principal uses allowed” on CDI lands. 

SB 704 prohibits “new or expanded oil and gas development from being considered a Coastal-Dependent Industrial facility,” and would only permit those developments if they are determined to be “consistent with all applicable provisions of the act,” according to the text of the bill. Under SB 704, new or expanded oil and gas facilities will have to comply with policies outlined in Chapter 3 of the Coastal Act to be permitted, in line with “virtually all other coastal development.”

The new law would make it very, very difficult for oil and gas developers to build such facilities around Humboldt Bay, Jennifer Kalt, executive director of the Humboldt Waterkeeper, formerly the Humboldt Baykeeper, told the Outpost.

“If the federal government wanted to sell oil or gas leases here, we could much more easily block any kind of support facilities [that would be built] around Humboldt Bay or on the Samoa Peninsula now that this law has been signed,” Kalt said. “This is a huge milestone.”

Conversely, SB 704 encourages port development that contributes to offshore wind energy deployment. 

“Existing ports, including the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District, should be encouraged … to pursue development that contributes to the construction and deployment of offshore wind energy generation facilities, consistent with the policies of this division,” the bill states. 

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approved a letter of support for SB 704 back in May. The letter encourages the California Coastal Commission to “look toward a decarbonized energy future including offshore wind generation.”

“I want to thank Senator Min and everybody who helped move this bill forward,” Mike Wilson, Humboldt County’s Third District Supervisor and Coastal Commissioner, told the Outpost. “This new law removes one more way for oil companies to potentially exploit our beautiful and productive coastline.”

More information on SB 704 can be found here.