BLM Drops Draft Plan for California Oil Drilling Impacts
Published Date: 1/13/2026
Notice
Summary
The Bureau of Land Management just released a draft plan about oil and gas leasing in parts of California, including Kern and Ventura counties. This plan looks at how oil and gas development might affect the environment and invites the public to share their thoughts within 45 days after the EPA announces it. If approved, this could change how and where oil and gas drilling happens, impacting local communities and businesses.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 3 mixed.
Planning area: lands and minerals in California
The Bakersfield Field Office planning area covers about 400,000 acres of public land and about 1.2 million acres of Federal mineral estate across Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura counties in California. This Draft Supplemental EIS focuses on oil and gas leasing and development within that area.
No change proposed to 2014 land-use plan
The Draft Supplemental EIS reports that the range of alternatives analyzed has not changed from the approved 2014 Resource Management Plan (RMP) and related EIS documents, and states that no amendment to the 2014 RMP is being proposed. The analysis found that hydraulic fracturing did not show a notable increase in total impacts and found no conflicts with the RMP's goals and objectives.
Supplemental analysis for seven leased parcels
The Draft Supplemental EIS provides supplemental information for seven lease parcels totaling 4,134 acres that were analyzed in the 2020 Environmental Assessment and were leased during the December 2020 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale. The notice states that these implementation-level decisions are subject to appeal to the Interior Board of Land Appeals after a Record of Decision is signed for this project.
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