Jan 23 (Reuters) – California is suing the Trump administration for asserting federal authority over two state pipelines and allowing Sable Offshore to resume pumping oil through them, the state’s attorney general said on Friday.
The lawsuit is the latest twist in a dispute between Sable and California officials over a drilling project off the Santa Barbara coast that was shut down after the 2015 oil spill.
It was one of a series of clashes between US President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom. California Gov. Gavin Newsom supports the state’s ambitious climate change agenda and is one of Trump’s harshest critics.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that the government violated the law last month by reclassifying the Las Flores pipeline as an “interstate” pipeline, even though they run between two California counties.
The reclassification allows the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which regulates interstate pipelines, to issue emergency permits to restart operations.
The attorney general’s office said the petition will be filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
(Reporting by Nicola Groom; Editing by Rod Nickell)
