California sues Trump administration over alleged 'unlawful' pipeline restart approval years after oil spill

25 Jan 2026 By foxnews

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday the state is filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) asserting federal jurisdiction over two state oil pipelines and green lighting their restarts.

The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration has "unlawfully given the company Sable Offshore Corp. the green light to restart pumping oil through to onshore pipelines that originate and terminate within California, starting in Santa Barbara County and ending in Kern County," Bonta said at a news conference at Dockweiler State Beach.

He noted that one of the two Los Flores pipelines ruptured in 2015 due to corroded pipes, causing that Refugio oil spill disaster that "dumped more than 100,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the environment and at least 21,000 gallons of oil into the ocean."

Bonta claimed PHMSA'S approval of the restart of the pipeline is the "latest example of Trump doing the oil industry's bidding."

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The White House told Fox News Digital in response: "High energy prices are a choice and California Democrats continue to fight against President Trump's energy dominance agenda that unleashes our natural resources and drives down prices for American families and businesses. It's a shame that AG Bonta and Governor Newscum are putting partisan politics over common sense."

Bonta claims because the pipelines are located solely in California without crossing state lines and without going into federal waters, "oversight of the pipelines is controlled by California, not the federal government."

"The Trump administration unlawfully undermined California's authority, unlawfully federalized the pipelines and usurped state control and unlawfully issued Sable a sham emergency permit to begin pumping oil when there's absolutely no emergency," he said.

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"In short, the Trump administration broke the law again, which is why we are suing again."

Bonta said this marks the 55th lawsuit California has brought against the Trump administration.

He said the lawsuit isn't about whether the pipelines should be restarted, but whether California or the Trump administration gets to make the decision.

"The answer is clear: The state of California gets to decide," Bonta said.

He explained that Sable asked the Trump administration to declare the pipelines "interstate," meaning "the pipelines are part of a larger system that extends into federal waters on the outer continental shelf. That is a fantasy. That is not true."

He called it a "pretext to usurp state oversight."