Bill to Tighten Permit Timelines Heads to Senate Appropriations

AB 2711, authored by Assembly Member Stan Ellis, has been scheduled for hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, August 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The bill will be heard alongside CIPA-sponsored AB 2716 when lawmakers return from Summer Recess.

AB 2711 addresses one of the most persistent problems confronting California’s independent oil and natural gas producers: permit applications that can remain unresolved for months or years without a clear determination, a complete list of deficiencies, or any reliable timetable for a final decision.

Under the latest version of the bill, CalGEM would have 10 working days to determine whether a notice of intention to drill or abandon a well is complete. When an application is deemed incomplete, the agency would be required to identify the missing or deficient items, cite the legal authority supporting those requirements, and make a good-faith effort to provide the information in a single written document. Once an application is complete, CalGEM would generally have 30 working days to approve or deny it and would be required to provide a rationale for any denial.

This is basic administrative discipline, not a weakening of environmental protections. AB 2711 expressly preserves CalGEM’s environmental and technical review responsibilities. A permit could only be deemed approved after the statutory timeline expires when all necessary environmental and technical reviews have been completed. The bill does not eliminate CEQA, water protection requirements, engineering standards, or CalGEM’s authority to reject deficient projects. It simply requires the agency to communicate clearly and make a decision.

Clear timelines matter because capital, employees, and equipment cannot be held indefinitely while an application disappears into an administrative fog bank. Producers need to know whether an application is complete, what additional information is required and when a decision will be made. Without that certainty, companies cannot reliably schedule work, retain contractors, finance projects or plan the plugging and abandonment of wells.

The bill’s inclusion of well-abandonment permits is particularly important. California cannot simultaneously demand that operators plug wells more quickly while allowing abandonment applications to languish without a defined review process. A timely permitting system is necessary for both responsible production and responsible decommissioning.

AB 2711 has already received bipartisan support. It passed the Assembly on a 47-4 vote and advanced from the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on a 5-1 vote, with one member not voting, before being amended and referred to Senate Appropriations.

The Legislature will reconvene from Summer Recess on August 3 and immediately enter the final, compressed phase of the 2025-26 Legislative Session. Fiscal committees face an August 14 deadline to send bills to the Floor, and the Legislature must complete its work by August 31.

AB 2711 represents a modest but meaningful reform. California regulators should have sufficient time to conduct legitimate reviews, but agencies should not be permitted to replace a decision with indefinite delay. Accountability must run in both directions. Operators are expected to comply with firm statutory deadlines, and the state should be required to do the same.