SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – The California Coastal Commission has cited federal laws and a court agreement to demand that the Trump Administration's recent approval of restarting oil production locally be subject to a 30-day review before oil begins to flow to market.
In a Dec. 23, 2025, letter to Linda Daugherty, the Acting Associate Administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the state regulator noted that it has not waived its right under the Coastal Zone Management Act to review the federal regulator's decision to reclassify pipelines and assume authority over restart plans.
"The [California Coastal] Commission did not receive notice of Sable’s Project application prior to PHMSA’s [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] stated approval of the Project and, thus, the Commission has not waived its right, under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), to review this activity as an unlisted federal license or permit activity subject to the procedures in section 930.54 of title 15 of the Federal Code of Regulations."
"State agencies shall notify Federal agencies, applicants, and the Director of unlisted activities affecting any coastal use or resource which require State agency review within 30 days from notice of the license or permit application, that has been submitted to the approving Federal agency, otherwise the State agency waives its right to review the unlisted activity," states section 930.54 of title 15 of the Federal Code of Regulations. "The waiver does not apply in cases where the State agency does not receive notice of the federal license or permit application."
The Coastal Commission also noted that special permits submitted by Sable and granted by the federal government are also subject to a 30-day period that starts when materials are received.
None of the requested materials have been received by the Coastal Commission and the 30-day review period for neither request has started shared the state regulator with Your News Channel Tuesday.
"PHMSA’s stated approval of the [restart] Project should be considered to be stayed pending the Commission’s review of the Project application," added the Coastal Commission in the Dec. 23 letter.
The shoreline-focused state authority further noted that the federal government's expedited approval is also subject to review of compliance with Subpart E of the Coastal Zone Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as Appendix D of the Consent Decree in U.S. et al v. Plains All American Pipeline, LP and Plains Pipeline, a court decision agreed to after the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill.
"All outstanding corrective actions in PHMSA’s closed Corrective Action Order, as amended, are hereby merged into this Consent Decree, as outlined below, and subject to the sole regulatory oversight of the OSFM [California Office of State Fire Marshal]," stated the opening line of Appendix D of the Consent Decree.
"Ever since a catastrophic oil spill at Refugio Beach in 2015 led to a court-ordered consent decree, CAL FIRE - Office of the State Fire Marshal has been responsible for overseeing the repair of the lines that caused the spill, which are now operated by Sable Offshore Corp in Santa Barbara County," shared Daniel Villaseñor with the California Natural Resources Agency. "The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is asserting these lines are within their jurisdiction and will assume regulatory authority of the lines going forward, and that the Office of the State Fire Marshal no longer has any role to play in keeping Californians safe from potential problems with these pipelines. The Administration is reviewing PHMSA’s new action and evaluating next steps."
After Sable Offshore submitted official paperwork to restart oil production with the California Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) in September, the state-based safety agency responded the next month that there were still unmet conditions before an official restart.
In response, Sable Offshore informed investors that it had determined that the pipeline connecting the Santa Ynez Unit to Pentland Station in Kern County is technically an interstate pipeline under the Pipeline Safety Act and requested that federal regulators take over its restart plans involving the pipelines.
The Department of Transportation agreed with the energy company's assessment and promptly asserted its authority over restart plans in mid-December.
An 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration informed Sable Offshore that it had approved its restart plans that included Lines CA-324 and Line CA-325 on Dec. 22, 2025.
Line CA-324, formerly known as Line 901, has remained dormant since it ruptured, causing the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill which impacted 150 miles of California coastline and destroyed thousands of acres of shoreline habitats.
That pipeline connects the 114 wells on three offshore platforms, associated pipelines, and a refinement facility at Las Flores Canyon that are collectively called the Santa Ynez Unit.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration argued that the restart plans were subject to emergency permits and based on a national energy emergency declared by President Trump earlier this year which could bypass normal regulatory requirements.
Environmental groups filed a lawsuit to block the decision in federal court which ultimately decided to not immediately halt the restart plans, but the court did grant that the lawsuit would receive expedited processing and the plaintiff's opening brief is due by Jan. 26, 2026.
Environmental groups alleged in their suit filed on Dec. 24 in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, that the federal regulator had, "bypassed the required public notice, opportunity for public participation, statement of reasons for its decisions, and other conditions generally required for pipeline safety regulation waivers under the federal Pipeline Safety Act".
"Sable stated that expedited review of its application was warranted in light of the national energy emergency declared by the President under the National Emergencies Act in Executive Order 14156," explained the Department of Transportation when granting the emergency permits to Sable Offshore. "This emergency special permit allows Sable to operate Lines CA-324 and CA-325 without being subject to the requirement to evaluate and remediate corrosion of or along a longitudinal seam weld within 180 days."
The Environmental Defense Center noted when announcing its lawsuit in late December that the passage of SB 237, signed into law in September of this year, would require Sable Offshore to request a coastal development permit among other steps from state regulators to conduct any, "Repair, reactivation, and maintenance of an oil and gas facility, including an oil pipeline, that has been idled, inactive, or out of service for five years or more".
Those specifications only apply to plans to restart pipelines part of the Santa Ynez Unit.
"Rushing to restart this failed pipeline without following basic federal safety laws and without even making the necessary repairs poses an immediate threat to lives, property, and the environment across a large part of our state," explained the Environmental Defense Center's Chief Counsel Linda Krop, one of the petitioners in the Dec. 24 lawsuit. "We can’t allow the Trump administration and Sable to undermine California law and gamble with the safety of everyone living along the pipeline route."
The Coastal Commission's insistence on a 30-day review period joins another state agencies noting that the restart process still has outstanding steps.
According to California State Parks, an easement for Gaviota State Park is necessary to restart production and has not been granted for CA-2325 which runs through the state agency's jurisdiction.
Public claims made by Sable Offshore and the Trump Administration in May 2025 about already restarting oil production may have violated leases issued by the California State Lands Commission connected to the Santa Ynez Unit.
"This is a significant achievement for the Interior Department and aligns with the Administration's Energy Dominance initiative, as it successfully resumed production in just five months," stated the U.S. Department of Interior in July of 2025. "With production now underway at Sable's Platform Harmony, the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) continues to work with Sable to bring additional production online.
The Houston-based energy company walked back its claims to have restarted production with investors explaining in a disclaimer that, "The Santa Ynez Unit assets discussed in this [May 19, 2025] press release have not sold commercial quantities of hydrocarbons since such Santa Ynez Unit assets were shut in during June of 2015 when the only onshore pipeline transporting hydrocarbons produced from such Santa Ynez Unit assets to market ceased transportation. There can be no assurance that the necessary approvals will be obtained that would allow the onshore pipeline to recommence transportation and allow the Santa Ynez Unit assets to recommence sales."
Sable is also facing civil charges brought by the California Attorney General and criminal charges brought by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office regarding its pipeline repair work.
"The allegations from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office are inflammatory and extremely misleading," stated a spokesperson on behalf of Sable Offshore. "All of the repairs and excavations were supervised by a certified independent biologist and cultural resource professional and Office of State Fire Marshal personnel. No wildlife were adversely affected. All of these previously disturbed areas have been or are being remediated in accordance with state and local erosion control mitigation measures.
Sable's purchase of the Santa Ynez Unit back in February of 2024, has an important deadline that requires getting oil into the market.
Court documents revealed that Sable secured a $622,000,000 loan from Exxon to fund the purchase of the local oil production infrastructure which has a stipulated deadline where ownership would revert back to ExxonMobil unless oil from the Santa Ynez Unit under Sable's management enters the market.
Further complicating Sable's restart plans was the decision by the County of Santa Barbara's Board of Supervisors to not transfer permits linked to the Santa Ynez Unit the day before the Department of Transportation took over oversight.
Your News Channel reached out to Sable Offshore and the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for more information and their responses will be added to this article when they are received.
"Sable also lacks a necessary easement from State Parks to operate the pipeline in Gaviota State Park, and it lacks required permits to operate from Santa Barbara County," noted the Environmental Defense Center when reached for comment about its ongoing lawsuit. "If Sable turns on this pipeline, the company will be in violation of the law and EDC will do everything it can to reverse the restart and protect public safety and the environment. It is critical that the State and Santa Barbara County step up to enforce laws protecting the environment, public health and safety, and a transparent public process."
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