No New Legal Challenges for Kern County Oil and Gas Rezoning Ordinance
The 30-day period to challenge against Kern County’s revised oil and gas ordinance expired without new lawsuits, the Bakersfield Californian reported. The court must still approve the environmental review, but local oil permitting could resume within a year.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on June 26, 2025 to approve the third revision of the ordinance, and environmental groups had 30 days from that date to file a legal challenge.
The revised ordinance establishes production requirements for oil development on 2.3 million acres in unincorporated areas of the county. The ordinance could allow for the permitting of up to 2,700 new wells a year over the next 10 years.
A spokeswoman for Earthjustice told the Bakersfield Californian that objections filed in July in an ongoing lawsuit could continue to delay county oil permits. The Kern County permitting director, however, stated that the group’s decision to file objections in an ongoing lawsuit means that there will not be any new lawsuits in the matter.
The suit may not matter if Governor Gavin Newsom’s draft legislation, released on July 15, 2025, becomes law. The legislation would deem the Kern County permitting process sufficient to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.