Some news from our neighbor to the north: A group calling themselves Santa Barbara Water Guardians have gotten a proposition on the ballet that would ban "High-Intensity Petroleum Operations. High-Intensity Petroleum Operations include hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking), acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steam injection and other types of oil and gas development that use advanced well stimulation technologies." in Santa Barbara County. 


The group says the proposition will only apply to new projects. 


For information supporting Prop P visit: http://www.sbcountywaterguardians.org

VCInFocus is awaiting a response from Western States Petroleum Association for the industry's take on Prop P. 

Yesterday County Planning staff held a public hearing, a normal part of the application process for a modification to a Conditional Use Permit that allows drilling for oil and extraction. 

The LA times has reported that the LA City Council is going to vote on a fracking ban within their city limits. Other cities around the nation have passed bans, Pittsburgh, PA being the first to do so by local city ordinance. The Pittsburgh city council was threatened with law suits, but none were ever filed. Last year, when the topic came up before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, County Counsel advised them that they did not have the ability to ban hydraulic fracturing in the County. And Supervisor Steve Bennet indicated he did not "want to create a path to litigation" for the County. 

This brings up issues of preemption and whether the State has total authority over the use of land within various boundaries, it can get a bit murky when you say that the STate has jurisdiction below the ground, the actual drilling part, but the County has authority for the surface. 

Some communities on the east coast have found what might be a back door way to ban fracking by working to ban the transport of fracking waste within their city or county limits.

The LA Times Article: 

First step toward fracking ban in L.A. taken by land use panel

By Emily Alpert ReyesFebruary 25, 2014, 8:25 p.m.

A Los Angeles City Council committee took a first step Tuesday toward banning hydraulic fracturing and other disputed practices tied to oil extraction, winning cheers and applause from a packed auditorium.

"Fracking and other unconventional drilling is happening here in Los Angeles, and without the oversight and review to keep our neighborhoods safe," Councilman Mike Bonin told the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.... read the full article here http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-los-angeles-fracking-ban-20140225,0,3908061.story#ixzz2uVVV21fa