Bonta sues U.S., alleging pipeline 'power grab' near Santa Barbara

For more than a year, a Texas oil firm has clashed with California officials over controversial plans to restart offshore oil operations along the Santa Barbara County coast.

- BY GRACE TOOHEY

ATTY. GEN. Rob Bonta says the bid to bypass state rules puts residents at risk.

(DAVID BUTOW For The Times)

Now, California's feud with Sable Offshore Corp. has spread to the Trump administration.

On Friday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced that he had filed suit against the federal government, alleging that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration had usurped jurisdiction of Sable's oil pipelines in an "unlawful power grab."

"California has seen firsthand the devastating environmental and public health impacts of coastal oil spills - yet the Trump Administration will stop at nothing to evade state regulation which protects against these very disasters," Bonta said in a statement Friday.

"California will not stand idly by as the President endangers California's beautiful coastline and our public health to increase profits for his fossil fuel industry friends.The attorney general's petition, filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, challenges PHMSA's attempt to federalize oversight of the onshore pipelines and its recent approval of Sable's restart plan. Along with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the agency that had been working to review Sable's restart plan, the attorney general argues that PHMSA's decisions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and asked the court to overturn them.