Congressional Leaders Ask DOJ to Investigate Constitutionality of California’s Oil Setback Law

A coalition of House Majority Members have sent a formal letter to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi requesting a federal review of California’s most punitive oil production restrictions, including SB 1137 and local anti-drilling ordinances. The letter cites Executive Order 14260, signed earlier this year by President Trump, directing federal agencies to protect American energy from “state overreach.”

This powerful action by Congress urges DOJ to investigate whether California’s arbitrary setback mandates and local bans on oil drilling violate either the President’s Executive Order or the U.S. Constitution’s protections against property seizure without just compensation.

At the heart of the congressional concern is California Senate Bill 1137, passed by the Legislature without sufficient justification. The law created a 3,200-foot buffer zone, a de facto ban on drilling in vast swaths of oil-rich land, even where wells have been safely operating for decades. The State of California failed to produce any science-based rationale or health risk assessment to support such an extreme setback.

As the letter to Attorney General Bondi explains: “The state failed to produce justification for such a setback… These ordinances should be included in the Attorney General’s report to the President.”

The letter also highlights how some of these regulations are already under legal fire:

• In Warren E&P, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, the courts ruled that LA’s 2022 oil ordinance, which rendered wells nonconforming and banned drilling, was preempted by state law and invalid.

• Many local measures across Los Angeles, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties aim to shut down existing production without cause or compensation.

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The Members argue this amounts to a Fifth Amendment violation: “These ordinances are in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment protection of property seizure without fair compensation.”

Their request to Bondi: take action to overturn laws and local ordinances that “unnecessarily impede domestic energy production.”

CIPA has long warned that SB 1137 and similar laws have no grounding in credible science or environmental necessity. Instead, they reflect a political agenda that aims to shut down California’s oil industry by regulation, not by legislation or voter approval.

Attorney General Bondi, a seasoned constitutionalist and outspoken defender of private property rights, is now in a position to act. Executive Order 14260 empowers her to investigate whether state and local governments are interfering with America’s ability to produce domestic energy, a key national interest.

This includes examining whether California’s actions:

• Violate the Fifth Amendment,

• Contradict federal energy policy,

• Disrupt national supply chains by banning safe and productive in-state drilling.

For CIPA’s members, this federal inquiry could be a turning point. While Sacramento continues its war on in-state production, the momentum in Washington, D.C. is swinging toward enforcement of constitutional protections and energy security.

This congressional letter signals that:

• Federal officials are watching.

• Executive Order 14260 has teeth.

• California’s ideologically driven energy policies are not above the law.

CIPA applauds the congressional leaders who signed the letter and urges the Department of Justice to act swiftly. The arbitrary nature of SB 1137 has already inflicted economic harm, displaced workers, and increased foreign oil dependency—all without a shred of scientific justification.

Attorney General Bondi’s review could lead to:

• Formal findings against SB 1137’s legality,

• Federal preemption of local and state ordinances that disrupt domestic energy production,

• Potential legal challenges to overturn unconstitutional policies.

CIPA will continue to work with allies in Congress and across the administration to ensure that California’s oil producers are treated fairly under the law, and that the state is held accountable for policies that harm producers or oil workers, raise prices, and threaten U.S. energy independence.