Assemblymember Bloom: ‘California Regulates Massage Therapists more than Fracking’

Newly minted Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) introduced legislation AB 1301 last week. The bill calls for a moratorium on fracking until state regulators can develop regulations that protect public health and safety and address other environmental concerns. 

The Culver City City Council called for a moratorium on the practice last year, especially in light of the fracking activities at the Inglewood Oil Field near Culver City.

Bloom issued a statement that read in part, “Fracking operations have skyrocketed in recent years throughout the country and in California as new technologies have enabled the extraction of oil and natural gas deposits from previously unreachable geological formations.  However, fracking uses and produces highly toxic chemicals that pose serious threats to public health and the environment.”

Fourteen states have already enacted legislation that restricts or bans fracking until safeguards are in place. However, currently California does not regulate or monitor fracking.

“It shocks me that we pride ourselves on being a national leader on environmental protection, yet we have allowed this activity to occur largely unregulated,” said Bloom. “California regulates massage therapists more than hydraulic fracturing.”

In early 2012 the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) began conducting workshops  - - for the purpose of creating a discussion draft of proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations that was released in December 2012. 

Regulations are expected to be proposed sometime before this summer.  It is expected that the development of these regulations will take at least another year.  Meanwhile, fracking activities will continue without any oversight – nearly four years after officials first learned of the new fracking technologies.

“I support the department’s effort to develop regulations but we need to have a reality check here.  There is no requirement for this to be completed by next spring and given the snail’s pace to date, I don’t think the public has much confidence in the State’s ability to stick to its timeline,” said Bloom.  “This moratorium will incentivize all stakeholders to address the public health, safety and environmental hazards that fracking poses to California.”

Richard Bloom chairs the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Transportation and represents California’s 50th Assembly District.

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