The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors deadlocked in a 2-2 vote on approving the transfer of oil pipeline and offshore platforms permits from ExxonMobil to Sable Offshore Corp. Both Sable and environmental groups declared victory, but county officials are unsure of what the deadlock means.
Sable and the environmental groups had competing interpretations of the Board’s 2-2 vote. “The Board’s 2-2 vote means the company’s application was not approved and the transfer of permits will not happen,” the Environmental Defense Center stated in a release. Sable interpreted the “non action” vote as meaning that the Planning Commission’s decision stands and the permits are to be transferred.
County officials, meanwhile, said the application to transfer the permits was still pending and neither approved nor denied after the “non action” vote, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
“The parties are making conflicting statements about whether a tie vote results in reverting to the Planning Commission’s approval or acts as a denial because the board did not take action by a majority to approve the application,” the county said in a statement reported by Noozhawk. “The effect of a tie vote is not specifically set out in Chapter 25B. The county has not in recent memory had a tie vote under this section. The county is looking into what happens next.”
Sable Offshore Corporation acquired Exxon’s Santa Ynez Unit, which consists of the three offshore platforms located in federal waters, an onshore oil processing plant located in Las Flores Canyon, and related pipeline infrastructure. The vote over whether to approve the transfer of permits from ExxonMobil to Sable is a key step in restarting the facilities, which have been shut since the 2015 Refugio oil spill.
In October 2024, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted 3-1 to approve the transfer of the permits. Appeals from the Environmental Defense Center and Center for Biological Diversity sent the decision to the Board of Supervisors.
In the appeal, the environmental groups argued that Sable does not have the financial resources to respond to a potential oil spill. The groups argued that the pipeline has corrosion tendencies and lacks cathodic protection and therefore the county cannot make the required findings under county ordinance 25B, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
In the 2-2 vote, Steve Lavagnino and Bob Nelson voted in favor of the permit transfer, while Laura Capps and Roy Lee voted against the permit transfer. Supervisor Joan Hartmann recused herself from the vote, as the pipeline runs through her property.
Exxon sued Santa Barbara County in 2023 in a similar matter. In 2023, the Board of Supervisors came to tie vote of 2 – 2, with Hartmann recusing herself, on whether to approve permits to install 16 safety valves on the crude oil pipeline that ruptured and caused the Refugio oil spill. In that case, the planning commission voted to deny approval of the Pacific Pipeline Co. project. The companies then appealed the Planning Commission’s denial, sending the matter to the Board of Supervisors. Pacific Pipeline Co. sued the county and reached a settlement in which the county agreed that it does not have jurisdiction over the pipeline. The company was allowed to install the safety valves. (see Exxon Sues Santa Barbara County over Denial of Pipeline Safety Valve.)