Understanding California's Oil and Gas Safety Zones: Senate Bill 1137

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California's Senate Bill 1137 (SB 1137) establishes new safety measures to protect public health by creating buffer zones between oil and gas operations and community spaces. This legislation creates a 3,200-foot Health Protection Zone (HPZ) around homes, schools, hospitals, and other sensitive locations where people live, work, and gather.

Current Status: As of June 28, 2024, SB 1137 is fully implemented and enforced across California.

View the Health Protection Zone Mapping Tool:

Updates & Announcements

Sept 17, 2025- Public Hearing on SB 1137 First Implementation Regulations

On September 17, 2025, a hybrid public hearing was held to take public comments on the SB 1137 First Implementation Regulations.

Public comments or questions can be submitted to calgemregulations@conservation.ca.gov

More information, including the Initial Statement of Reasons and Text of the Regulations, can be found on the Department rulemaking page at: https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Pages/SB1137.aspx

Report Sensitive Areas: Help protect your community by identifying sensitive locations through our Sensitive Receptor Identification Form.

Aug 1, 2025 - First Implementation Regulations Posted to Office of Administrative Law

On August 1, 2025 the SB 1137 First Implementation Regulations were posted in the OAL Notice Register. This began a 45-day public comment period ending September 18, 2025.

Community Engagement - Materials & Previous Meetings

Recent Virtual Meetings on SB 1137:

March 19 and 20, 2025, Virtual Meeting PowerPoint, Recordings, and Q&A

View Past Meeting Materials:

Public Workshop Recording and PowerPoint from November 3, 2022 available:

Background & Resources

Check Safety Zones Near You

Check Your Location: New Experience Builder Health Protection Zone Interactive Map allows you to view Health Protection Zones and oil/gas wells in your neighborhood.

Features Included in New Experience Builder HPZ Public Application:

Page Navigation Tabs: click on a tab and view helpful information about the application such as:

Application interface, location of tools, and tool functionality
How to use application tools
Health Protection Zone information

Expanded view of Legend, Filters for Oil and Gas Wells, and Layer List Tools

This layout is available when viewing the application on a desktop or laptop computer. The tools are expanded by default. The user doesn’t have to close one tool to view the other.

**For best performance of mapping content, use of Internet Explorer to access content is not recommended. Please access while connected to a stable broadband internet connection using one of the following browsers:

Google Chrome version 107 or later
Microsoft Edge version 107 or later
Mozilla Firefox version 109 or later
Mozilla Firefox 102 (ESR)
Safari version 15 or later

Reason for Retiring Existing (Legacy) Application

The current application is built on a platform that is retiring and will no longer be supported by Esri.

Legacy Application (Previous Version): The previous HPZ mapping tool was replaced July 15, 2025

Refer to this guide for legacy application instructions
Watch these short YouTube Tutorial Videos for legacy application

About The Legislation

Recognizing the importance of supporting California’s clean energy transition and protecting California communities, Governor Gavin Newsom partnered with legislative leaders to pass a package of climate legislation—including Senate Bill 1137 (SB 1137). On September 16, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1137 (Gonzalez, Chapter 1, Statutes of 2022) into law. In addition, the bill establishes strict engineering controls to be implemented by existing operations within the health protection zone.

FAQ for Local Government and Planning Bodies on SB 1137

Implementation Timeline

September 16, 2022: Governor Newsom signs SB 1137 into law⁠
January 1, 2023: Initial implementation begins - CalGEM stops approving new well permits within Health Protection Zones⁠
February 3, 2023: Law temporarily suspended due to referendum challenge⁠⁠
June 28, 2024: Full implementation resumes with updated regulations⁠⁠

Key future deadlines:

July 1, 2025: Deadline for operators to submit sensitive receptor inventory documents (spreadsheets, maps/pipeline and instrumentation diagrams, and statements)
July 1, 2026: All facilities within protection zones must meet new safety requirements⁠⁠
July 1, 2028: operators with wells or production facilities within a Health Protection Zone must submit leak detection and response plan to the division
July 1, 2029: Deadline for leak detection response plans approval⁠
July 1, 2030: Operators shall suspend all production and injection operations within a Health Protection Zone unless an approved leak detection and response plan is fully implemented. Operators are required to update its plan every five years. Operators will be required to begin annual reporting on the results of their leak detection and response plan, baseline water testing.
July 1, 2030: CalGEM will submit legislative reports to applicable budget and policy committees on the implementation of the Health Protection Zone.

Operator Resources

Operators must comply with Senate Bill 1137 and its Emergency Implementation Regulations. Non-compliance may result in enforcement action.

Implementation Guidelines

Notice to Operators

Emergency Implementation Regulations (PDF)

For implementation questions, contact: SB1137Implementation@conservation.ca.gov.

CalGEM has created a template and examples of some of the required information that must be submitted to meet the requirement for NOI and Annual Sensitive Inventory Submission.

Annual Receptor(s) Inventory (Excel Template)
New Production Facilities Notice (NPFN) form and instructions (PDF)

New Maps

Inside the Health Protection Zones:

Outside the Health Protection Zones:

GIS (map) data files are also available to download and depict the Health Protection Zone. The Oil and Gas Wells layer is attributed according to their location in relation to the Health Protection Zone.

Understanding California's Oil and Gas Safety Zones: Senate Bill 1137

View the Health Protection Zone Mapping Tool:

Updates & Announcements​

Background & Resources

Questions?

Updates & Announcements