The California Department of Conservation (DOC) on December 11 gave public notice of proposed emergency rulemaking to establish interim regulations governing oil and gas well stimulation under SB4. The DOC expects the interim regulations to be effective January 1, 2014.

Industry and the public will have an opportunity to submit comments on the proposed rules later this month.

The interim regulations would be effective until DOC’s proposed permanent regulations are completed and become effective. The proposed permanent regulations were publicly noticed on November 15. DOC anticipates the permanent regulations will be effective on January 1, 2015.

The interim regulations, established under an emergency rulemaking process, will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law on December 19,  with an intended effective date for the interim regulations of January 1, 2014.

Comments on the interim regulations must be submitted directly to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) within five calendar days after that agency posts those regulations on its website, on or after December 19.

Comments can be submitted by mail to:  OAL Reference Attorney, 300 Capitol Mall, Suite 1250, Sacramento, California 95814; by fax to (916) 323-6826; or by e-mail to: staff@oal.ca.gov.

The Notice of Proposed Emergency Rulemaking Action and the text of the SB 4 Interim Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations can be downloaded by clicking on their titles.