The Trump administration is suing California to pause and overturn the state’s 2022 oil drilling setback law, known as SB 1137. The administration is arguing that the Mineral Leasing Act and the Federal Land and Policy Management Act preempts the law. The administration notes that the law would “knock out about one-third of all federally authorized oil and gas leases in California.” The lawsuit asks the court to declare SB 1137 unconstitutional and seeks an injunction against its enforcement.
SB 1137 implements a 3,200-foot buffer zone, known as a setback, between oil wells and schools, homes, and playgrounds. The buffer zone prevents new wells and the reworking and maintenance of existing wells. The legislation passed the law in 2022 and it took effect in June 2024.
The administration’s challenge to SB 1137 is part of President Donald Trump’s policy, outlined in an April 2025 executive order, to stop the “overreach” from “burdensome and ideologically motivated ‘climate change’ or energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security.”
Oil producers have fought against the law since its passage. A voter referendum on the law qualified for the November 2024 ballot, but the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA) withdrew the referendum to pursue legal challenges against the law instead.
In 2025, oil producers and mineral owners filed two lawsuits against SB 1137, arguing, among other issues, that it is an illegal public taking of private property without just compensation. These lawsuits are still proceeding in Los Angeles County Superior Court.