California Asks Ninth Circuit to Overturn PHMSA Permit Allowing Sable Offshore Pipelines to Operate

Overview

• California Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Fire Marshal Chief Daniel Berlant filed a petition in the U.S. Ninth Circuit on Monday challenging PHMSA’s new non‑emergency special permit that authorizes Sable Offshore to move oil through onshore Lines CA‑324 and CA‑325.
• The suit says PHMSA’s December 2025 reclassification of the lines as “interstate” and its special permits improperly displaced state authority and allowed PHMSA to waive corrosion‑evaluation rules that were meant to guard against failures like the 2015 Refugio Beach spill.
• The 2015 pipeline rupture released more than 120,000 gallons of crude, led to a court‑approved Consent Decree that gave the State Fire Marshal a formal role in any restart, and underpins California’s argument that federal actions violate that agreement.
• Sable has already restarted offshore platforms and pipelines and reported production of roughly 43,000 barrels a day from two platforms as of mid‑June while it faces separate state criminal charges, Coastal Act allegations, a congressional inquiry, and civil suits.
• The legal battle will decide whether federal emergency and energy authorities can preempt state safety rules for oil infrastructure and could halt pipeline transport if the Ninth Circuit grants injunctive relief in the pending motions.