Overview
- City leaders unanimously advanced the proposal, approving environmental findings and asking the city attorney to prepare a draft ordinance that must return for a final council vote later this summer.
- The draft would prohibit new oil and gas extraction and classify all existing and idle wells as nonconforming uses that would stop production within a 20-year window while exempting wells run by a CPUC-regulated public utility.
- Los Angeles has more than 2,000 active wells and city data show roughly 75% of them sit within about 1,700 feet of homes, schools or parks, where residents report higher rates of respiratory problems, nosebleeds and other complaints.
- Oil companies and trade groups have warned the move could affect local fuel supply and costs and have signaled plans to sue again after successfully overturning a 2022 ban in court.
- The city’s action builds on 2024 state law AB 3233, which affirmed local authority to limit or ban oil operations, and follows similar local ordinances in places such as Culver City and Santa Barbara.