California AG Filed Comments Opposing BLM’s Proposal to Open Central California to Fracking

JUNE 10, 2019

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra submitted comments highlighting flaws in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for its proposal to open more than one million acres of federal land in Central California to oil and gas leasing, including fracking. In the comments, AG Becerra emphasized that the DEIS relied on an “unfounded assumption” that fracking will take place at four or fewer wells each year. AG Becerra also noted that BLM failed to adequately consider potential alternatives, including those that would be less harmful to the environment and surrounding communities, and warned that the DEIS is “particularly deficient” in its assessment of the proposal’s potential impacts on disadvantaged populations. The comments also noted that the DEIS failed to address the BLM proposal’s direct conflicts with state policies aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and reining in greenhouse gas emissions.