The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department filed a complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, challenging California Senate Bill 1137, a state law enacted in 2022 that restricts oil and gas development within 3,200 feet of a so-called sensitive receptor. DOJ says the statute cannot stand because federal law governs the leasing and development of oil and gas on federal lands.

According to the complaint, SB 1137 would knock out about one-third of all federally authorized oil and gas leases in California. The department says the law is preempted by the Mineral Leasing Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and it is asking the court to declare the measure unconstitutional and block enforcement of it.

The filing also fits into the administration’s broader effort to use a 2025 executive order to target state energy rules it views as unlawful. The White House order, issued April 8, 2025, directs the attorney general to identify state and local energy laws that may be unconstitutional, preempted by federal law or otherwise unenforceable, and to take appropriate action to stop their enforcement.

DOJ’s complaint does not settle the dispute; it starts it. California will now have to defend a law that was written to limit drilling near homes and other sensitive sites against a federal challenge that says the state ran into territory reserved for Washington. The court will decide whether SB 1137 survives that clash.