- Start
- Jul 20, 202692% CONFIDENCEfrom oag.ca.gov
California Sues in the Ninth Circuit Over PHMSA's New Sable Pipeline Permit
- On Monday 20 July 2026 California Attorney General Rob Bonta, with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, filed a second petition against the Trump administration over Sable Offshore's onshore pipelines, challenging PHMSA's new 'non-emergency special permit' for Lines CA-324 and CA-325 in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties[1]
- The petition targets PHMSA's 25 June 2026 order (docket PHMSA-2026-0464) and its companion Analysis and Findings, Jurisdictional Determination and Finding of No Significant Impact; the permit waives the federal rule requiring operators to remediate certain longitudinal seam weld corrosion within 180 days[3]
- The state says the permit is the latest step in PHMSA's effort to reclassify the lines as 'interstate' and take them from state oversight; its January petition against the December 2025 reclassification, restart approval and emergency permit is still pending[1]
- 'California's coastline is not for sale to enrich the President's fossil fuel friends,' Bonta said; State Fire Marshal Chief Daniel Berlant said the state's pipeline rules are 'grounded in engineering and risk reduction'[1]
- The Independent reports the waived 'tool tolerance' standard treats a 40% corrosion reading as 50% and requires repair within 180 days, and that PHMSA had moved in the Federal Register the week before to drop the rule for every operator[4]
- The lines ruptured in the 2015 Refugio Beach spill, releasing more than 120,000 gallons of crude, at least 21,000 gallons of which reached the Pacific[1]
- The petition names PHMSA, its administrator Paul Roberti, the Department of Transportation and Secretary Sean Duffy as respondents[3]; KEYT reports it was filed in the Ninth Circuit on Monday[2]
References 485% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 85%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 4 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-continues-protect-california%E2%80%99s-environment-and-public-0oag.ca.gov· Posted Sep 28, 2026· Starts Jul 20, 2026· 30% of score
The Attorney General's release, dated Monday, July 20, 2026: 'California Attorney General Rob Bonta today filed a second petition against the Trump Administration'; the petition itself is signed 'this 20th day of July, 2026'.
- [2]76%Attorney General Challenges Legality of Trump Administration's Special Permit for Sable Offshorekeyt.com· Published Jul 21, 2026· Starts Jul 20, 2026· 23% of score
KEYT: the petition naming PHMSA and its leadership 'was filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday', quoting its challenge to the 25 June permit and related documents.
- [3]92%State of California v. PHMSA - Petition for Review (Ninth Circuit)oag.ca.gov· Published Jul 20, 2026· Starts Jul 20, 2026 ✓· 23% of score
The petition, 'Respectfully submitted this 20th day of July, 2026', challenges PHMSA's 'June 25, 2026 order granting a Special Permit', docket PHMSA-2026-0464, which waives 49 CFR 195.452(h)(4)(iii)(H), the rule to remediate certain longitudinal seam weld corrosion within 180 days, for lines CA-324 and CA-325 from Las Flores Canyon to the Pentland Station terminal in Kern County.[1]
- [4]80%California Attorney General Sues Feds over Sable Offshore Yet Againindependent.com· Published Jul 20, 2026· 23% of score
Santa Barbara Independent: Bonta's second lawsuit against PHMSA over Sable this year targets the 'tool tolerance' standard requiring repair of longitudinal seam welds within 180 days; PHMSA had also moved in the Federal Register to drop the rule for all operators.
Suggest a correction
Something missing or wrong? Say it in your own words: a link that backs this pin up, a different start or end date and why, or a fact it lacks or gets wrong. The AI checks it against this pin's sources, searches for better ones, and adds any page that backs you up. The pin's own sources still count most. A picture that shows something else, or shows it badly, is looked at too, and moved down or replaced.