California bill to block offshore oil and gas drilling heads to the governor’s desk.

The California legislature has passed a bill that would strengthen protections for the state’s coastline from federal efforts to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. 

Assembly Bill 1448, known as the California Coastal Protection Act, was introduced by Assemblymember Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara, and co-authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, State Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and others. The bill passed the California senate on Aug. 26 and will now head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk to be signed into law.

The bill comes as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has proposed potential lease sales across California, including two in the Central California Planning Area in 2027 and 2029 as part of the Trump administration’s 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. BOEM is now working on the second analysis and proposal.

“AB 1448 puts clear safeguards in place to ensure that state infrastructure cannot be used to support new federal offshore oil development,” Hart said in a press release. “As the federal government rushes to violate the more than 40-year-old, bipartisan, consensus against new offshore oil drilling, California needs to be prepared to respond.”

California banned drilling in state waters more than three decades ago, and no new leases have been issued in the state’s federal waters since 1984. However, the administration is attempting to use existing oil and gas infrastructure for new drilling.

The bill would prohibit leases and oil- and gas-related infrastructure to be located in tidelands and submerged lands within state waters from being used to support Pacific Outer Continental shelf leases issued after Jan. 1, 2026.

The bill would also remove a loophole in state law that permits the State Lands Commission to lease state-owned coastal areas for oil and gas extraction if deposits underneath the California Coastal Sanctuary are being drained by drilling in adjacent federal waters. 

Areas that are designated as marine protected areas or national marine sanctuaries are prohibited from being considered for new oil and gas leases. Marine protected areas cover roughly 16 percent of the state’s coastal waters, with the California Natural Resources Agency overseeing a network of 124 marine protected areas. 

A national marine sanctuary is a federally protected area. In California, this covers more than 16,600 square miles of ocean and coastal waters, including the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Channel Islands and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries. 

“This bill helps ensure California’s coast remains protected for future generations by preventing state infrastructure from being used to support the expansion of new federal offshore oil drilling,” Laird said. “I’m proud to coauthor legislation that reinforces California’s longstanding commitment to protecting our coast.”