AB 2711 Advances a Common-Sense Permitting Reform for California Oil Production

AB 2711 by Assembly Member Stan Ellis would bring a measure of discipline, certainty, and basic fairness back into California’s oil and gas permitting process. The bill addresses a problem CIPA members know too well: permit applications that should be reviewed promptly can instead sit in regulatory limbo, delaying routine work, discouraging investment, and weakening the in-state production base California still depends on every day.

AB 2711 amends Public Resources Code Section 3203, which governs notices of intention for oil and gas well operations. Current law already requires CalGEM to respond to an operator’s notice in 10 days, and if the agency fails to respond within the statutory period, that failure can be deemed approval. However, CalGEM has adopted the practice of automatically issuing computer-generated abeyance letters before the end of the 10-day period without any review of the NOI, effectively nullifying the 10-day review statute. 

AB 2711 updates that framework by requiring CalGEM to approve or deny covered notices within 30 working days. If CalGEM denies the notice, the agency must provide a rational explanation for the denial, rather than leaving operators guessing about what must be corrected or why the project cannot move forward. The latest published bill text also provides that if CalGEM fails to issue an approval or denial within 30 working days, the notice is deemed approved.

Importantly, the bill does not exempt operators from environmental laws, safety requirements, or CalGEM oversight. Quite the opposite. The bill was amended in the Assembly Appropriations Committee to clarify that CalGEM must ensure all applicable laws and regulations are followed during the 30-day review period. That amendment should help answer the predictable criticism that AB 2711 is somehow a shortcut around regulation. It is not. It is a deadline, not a deregulation bill. There is a large difference between enforcing the law and using process delay as a slow-motion denial. One is regulation. The other is bureaucracy in work boots.

The need for AB 2711 is especially clear in Kern County, where producers have spent years fighting through litigation, regulatory uncertainty, and procedural delay. In late 2025, the Kern County Superior Court found that the County had complied with the Fourth Peremptory Writ of Mandate and discharged the writ, lifting the suspension on Kern County’s focused oil and gas local permitting ordinance. The court order also noted that Kern County adopted its 2025 revisions to Title 19, focused on oil and gas local permitting, on June 26, 2025. That local progress matters. But local permitting certainty is only part of the puzzle if CalGEM review remains unpredictable at the state level.

AB 2711 also complements the broader push by CIPA and its allies to restore a functional permitting environment for California production. California’s independent producers are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for timely answers. A permit applicant should know whether the answer is yes, no, or fix these specific deficiencies. That is not radical. That is how government is supposed to work when the lights are on and somebody is minding the store.

Assembly Member Ellis made the same point in committee, explaining that AB 2711 does not ask for exemptions, but instead requires a reasonable time frame and protects operators from being held indefinitely in limbo. The bill previously passed Assembly Natural Resources on an 8-0 vote and was referred to Assembly Appropriations, where it was placed on the suspense file on May 13.

For CIPA members, the policy stakes are straightforward. Delayed permits mean delayed maintenance, delayed production, delayed water-handling work, and delayed investment. Those delays do not reduce California’s demand for oil. They simply push California further toward foreign crude, imported fuels, tanker traffic, and a less reliable energy system. Every month the state makes it harder to produce responsibly here at home, it deepens dependence on barrels produced under standards California neither controls nor enforces.

AB 2711 is a modest but important correction. It preserves CalGEM’s authority, maintains compliance with existing law, and requires the agency to provide timely, reasoned decisions. California’s producers can work with clear rules. They cannot responsibly operate in a system where silence, delay, and uncertainty become the default permitting policy.

CIPA will continue supporting practical reforms like AB 2711 that restore predictability, protect responsible operators, and help keep California energy production where it belongs: here in California, under California’s rules, by California workers.