Attorney General Bonta and Coastal Commission Executive Director Dr. Huckelbridge Celebrate U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision to Deny Review of Injunction Blocking Fracking Off California Coast

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Coastal Commission Executive Director Dr. Kate Huckelbridge today issued the following statements in response to the decision by the United States Supreme Court to deny oil and gas interests’ petition for certiorari in the case American Petroleum Institute v. Environmental Defense Center. By denying the petition, the Supreme Court is allowing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2022 decision to stand, which affirmed an injunction obtained by California and non-profit organizations blocking the United States Department of the Interior (Interior) from authorizing fracking on offshore platforms off the coast of California without further environmental review. 

“One of our prized jewels is our beautiful coastline, and with today’s decision, we are able to continue protecting it from harmful fracking,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The science and the law were on our side, and the Supreme Court agreed that there was no reason to continue this litigation." 

“Today's decision is a victory for California’s coast and ocean,” said California Coastal Commission Executive Director Dr. Huckelbridge. “We are pleased that the Coastal Commission can continue to carefully scrutinize offshore fracking, as part of our mandate to protect state waters.”

In its 2022 decision, the Ninth Circuit held that agencies within Interior — specifically the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement — violated the National Environmental Policy Act in 2016 when they found that fracking on the offshore platforms would pose “no significant impact” to the environment, and also held that they violated the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act. 

In December 2016, the California Attorney General’s Office and the California Coastal Commission filed a lawsuit challenging the agencies’ actions, which would have cleared the way for fracking, acidizing, and other advanced well-stimulation treatments on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California.