California Attorney General Rob Bonta urged the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to reject Sable Offshore Corp.’s application for a special permit that would waive certain federal pipeline safety requirements for the restart of Lines CA-324 and CA-325 in Santa Barbara and Kern counties.
The state argues in a comment letter that PHMSA improperly reclassified Lines CA-324 and CA-325 as “interstate” pipelines on December 17, 2025, despite the pipelines operating entirely within California. The state argues that PHMSA lacks jurisdiction and the Office of the State Fire Marshal should continue to oversee the pipelines.
According to the state, that reclassification unlawfully shifted regulatory oversight from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to PHMSA. California is already challenging both the reclassification and PHMSA’s earlier emergency permit in pending federal litigation.
The special permit under consideration would allow Sable to restart the pipelines without completing portions of the corrosion assessment and remediation process otherwise required under federal safety rules.
California argues that PHMSA lacks authority to grant the permit because the agency has no lawful jurisdiction over the pipelines. The state also contends that PHMSA has failed to demonstrate any emergency justifying the waiver, has not conducted adequate environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and has improperly relied on emergency consultation procedures under the Endangered Species Act.
The Attorney General also maintains that PHMSA’s position conflicts with the federal consent decree that resolved enforcement actions stemming from the 2015 Refugio oil spill. The consent decree, which was approved by a federal court and signed by PHMSA, recognized the Office of the State Fire Marshal’s role in reviewing and approving any future restart of the onshore pipelines. According to California, PHMSA’s recent actions represent a significant departure from both the consent decree and the agency’s longstanding treatment of the pipelines as intrastate facilities.
The filing also challenges the legality of the Department of Energy’s Pipeline Capacity Prioritization and Allocation Order, issued under the Defense Production Act, which the Trump administration has relied upon to support Sable’s restart. California argues that the order cannot expand PHMSA’s jurisdiction and is itself unlawful. The Attorney General separately challenged the order in federal court last month.
Attorney General Bonta said the federal government is improperly invoking President Trump’s declared “National Energy Emergency” to circumvent state authority and pipeline safety requirements.
In January, California also filed a lawsuit against the PHMSA for taking regulatory authority over the pipeline system and approval of Sable’s restart plan and its issuance of an emergency special permit.