Los Angeles, California: Mayor Bass Signs Ordinance Phasing Out Oil and Gas Drilling Over 20 Years

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a new oil and gas drilling ordinance on Thursday, October 29, 2026, one day after the City Council advanced the measure. The signing sets the city on a 20-year path to end drilling inside its borders, a goal neighborhood groups have pursued for more than a decade.

The ordinance designates all existing oil and gas activities as a nonconforming use in every zone in the city. New drilling is prohibited. Existing wells and gas activities must be phased out within 20 years, unless the city authorizes work under a well maintenance, well servicing, or health and safety exception, according to city documents. The ordinance also creates a separate review process that can permit drilling activity only to prevent, respond to, or stop credible threats to public health, safety, or the environment.

"For too long, communities throughout Los Angeles have lived with the impacts of oil and gas drilling in their neighborhoods, leading to significant health conditions. We are changing this," Bass said. "I have fought for environmental justice throughout my career, from the State Assembly to Congress and now as Mayor. Signing this ordinance is another important step toward phasing out oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles once and for all."

What changes on the ground

City officials say drilling operations reach nearby neighborhoods through emissions, odors, noise, spills, and truck traffic. Those burdens have fallen hardest on frontline communities and communities of color, where drilling sites often sit near homes, schools, parks, places of worship, and health care facilities.

"No one should have to live near an oil drilling site. In South L.A., working-class families have had corporations drilling across the street from their homes," Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said in a statement. "Today's vote marks a historic step forward for environmental justice and public health in Los Angeles."

Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky pointed to the residents who pushed the policy. "For more than a decade, residents across Los Angeles have been fighting for something pretty straightforward: Oil wells do not belong next to their homes, schools and daycare centers," she said. City officials also thanked Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling, known as STAND-LA, for its 14 years of work on the issue.

The second try

This is the city's second attempt at the same policy. In December 2022, Los Angeles adopted an ordinance prohibiting new oil and gas extraction and designating existing operations as nonconforming uses. Oil companies, including Warren Resources, E&B Natural Resources, and Hillcrest Beverly Oil Corp, sued the city, and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge struck the ban down in 2024. The city rescinded the ordinance after the ruling.

State lawmakers then passed AB 3233, which reaffirmed the authority of local governments to regulate or prohibit oil and gas development. The updated ordinance uses that authority to reestablish the citywide phase-out.

The work is not finished, Yaroslavsky said. "Now we need to finish the job by making sure these wells are properly plugged, these sites are cleaned up and the companies responsible are held accountable," she added. STAND-LA made the same point in its statement. "While this is an important step, signing this ordinance today is not the end, but instead the start of the city's commitment to environmental justice," the group said. "Tomorrow, frontline residents will still wake up next to drilling in their neighborhoods, and will continue to advocate for city leaders to protect their health from toxic oil pollution."

Bass signed the ordinance five days before Tuesday's election, where she is running for reelection against Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, a fellow Democrat.