• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1866 into law during a signing ceremony in Inglewood, according to a Sept. 24 statement from Assemblymember Gregg Hart’s (D-Santa Barbara) office. The bill, written by Hart, mandates that oil companies meet targets to plug the estimated 40,000 idle oil wells in California. “The health of our communities always comes first. These new laws allow local leaders to limit dangerous oil and gas activities near homes, schools, and other areas as they see fit for their communities, and give the state more tools to make sure that idle and low-producing wells get plugged sooner,” Newsom said in the statement. “This builds off of our all-of-the-above efforts to protect communities from pollution and hold Big Oil accountable.” Specifically, AB 1866 would have the most impact on larger operators, requiring them to plug 15 percent of their idle wells in the first year, rising to 20 percent annually by 2030. The bill also mandates operators to prioritize plugging wells within 3,200 feet of where communities live, work, and play. “This is a landmark victory for taxpayers and communities most affected by the harmful health impacts of neighborhood oil drilling,” Hart said in the statement. “I am proud of this decisive action we are taking today to hold the oil industry responsible for plugging over 40,000 idle oil wells across California.”
• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the Protecting Investments in Our Ports Act, legislation to ensure that ports across the U.S. take the proper steps to protect against potential cybersecurity threats when buying products with funding provided by the federal port infrastructure grant program, according to a Sept. 26 statement from Carbajal’s office. “As we’ve seen over the past few years, our ports are vital to maintaining an operational and fluid supply chain,” Carbajal said in the statement. “Unfortunately, cyberattacks at our ports are ever increasing and putting our supply chain at risk. I’m happy to support this bill which would strengthen port cybersecurity and ensure federal funds are going to recipients that safeguard our supply chain and goods.” The Port Infrastructure Development Program is administered by the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The legislation would add a requirement that applicants ensure their existing facility security plans protect against any cybersecurity threats presented by software or digital infrastructure purchased with grant funding. The legislation also allows applicants to include plans in their applications to protect against cybersecurity threats posed by these items and then subsequently update their facility security plans based on requirements in current law.
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced bicameral legislation to prevent the federal government from contracting with federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) that have a documented history of selling a disproportionate number of guns that end up being used to commit violent crimes, according to a Sept. 26 statement from Padilla’s office. Existing federal law requires FFLs that have sold 25 or more guns over the course of a single year that are subsequently traced to violent crimes within three years to submit a report to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) providing additional information on their sales practices under the Bureau’s Demand 2 program. The Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act would require ATF to identify the small number of FFLs that are consistently overrepresented in criminal activity and render them ineligible for federal contracts. “Far too often, lucrative federal contracts are inexplicably awarded to firearm dealers who have been linked to dangerous crime,” Padilla said in the statement. “Our common-sense legislation aims to combat senseless, preventable gun violence by ensuring that gun dealers follow responsible business practices to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands.”