The oil and gas industry, which has been accustomed to getting its own way from California regulators for decades, suffered a rare defeat this year.
That happened in September, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1137, which requires a minimum distance between new oil and gas wells and places of human habitation and work, such as homes, schools and health care facilities.
That distance is 3,200 feet — about two thirds of a mile or roughly one kilometer. More than 2 million Californians live within that distance from an active oil or gas well, disproportionately low-income residents or people of color.
