Santa Barbara Judge Upholds Block on Sable Offshore Pipeline Restart

Overview

• Judge Donna Geck on Friday denied Sable Offshore’s bid to dissolve her July injunction, keeping the onshore pipelines shut and requiring 10 court days’ notice before any restart after all approvals are obtained.
• The court reaffirmed that the lines cannot resume operations without state approvals mandated by the consent decree, including a waiver from the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
• Federal regulators classified the lines as interstate and issued an emergency special permit in December after the president’s energy emergency declaration, and this week opened a 30-day public comment period on a new special permit.
• California and environmental groups are challenging the federal actions in consolidated cases before the 9th Circuit after a federal court declined to stay PHMSA’s approval but granted expedited review.
• Additional state hurdles remain, including a Coastal Commission permit under SB 237 for long-idled facilities, an easement through Gaviota State Park, and ongoing civil and criminal cases over Sable’s prior pipeline work.