Sacramento, Calif. – On September 16, 2022, Senator Lena A. Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Senator Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) and community advocates released the following statement following Governor Gavin Newsom signing SB 1137 into law, which creates a minimum setback of 3,200-feet between sensitive receptors, such as a residence, school, childcare facility, playground, hospital, or nursing home and a new or reworked oil and gas production well.

“This legislation marks a true turning point in California’s history and in our nation’s fight against climate change and decade’s worth of environmental injustices faced by our frontline communities. Our planet is warming, and that is simply an undeniable truth; but with bold actions like SB 1137 we can still catch up in the race to stop this crisis,” said Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach). “With the combined stress of global warming and proximity to oil and gas production wells, it is our frontline communities that carry the heaviest burden with their already increased risk of asthma, heart disease and cancer. That is the reality and the severity of the public health challenges that pollution-burdened communities face daily across our state, and SB 1137 will help us change that. This is only the beginning—I believe SB 1137 will be a catalyst for more meaningful climate action in the near future. It has been an honor to work alongside the many dedicated environmental community advocates and organizations who helped push this legislation forward, and with my Senate colleague, Senator Monique Limon, who helped author SB 1137. Thank you to all my colleagues in the Legislature for their support and to Governor Newsom for signing this historic bill into law.”  

“I am proud to have stood side by side with my colleague Senator Gonzalez to pass historic legislation that will protect our communities. After years of work on setbacks legislation with leaders like Assemblymembers Muratsuchi and Holden and Senator Wiener and so many environmental justice groups, I am grateful to finally see this policy become a reality,” said Senator Limón (D-Santa Barbara). “Thank you to the Governor for seizing this moment to not only ensure we are meeting our climate goals but also to rectifying systemic wrongs that have impacted the health and safety of many California communities for decades.”

"The signing of SB 1137 is a historic moment not just in California history, but for the incredible visionary leadership of the environmental justice movement worldwide,” said Kobi Naseck, Coalition Coordinator, VISIÓN (Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods). By signing the bill into law, the Governor is helping put an end to the harm that Big Oil has inflicted on our state's frontline communities for decades. VISIÓN is grateful for the Governor's signature, and for the support of our advocates in the legislature, Senator Gonzalez and Senator Limón, who carried this bill and the multi-year campaign behind it over the finish line."

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Senator Gonzalez represents the 33rd Senate District, which includes the City of Long Beach and portions of South Los Angeles and Southeast Los Angeles including the cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lakewood, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, Signal Hill, and South Gate. Senator Gonzalez lives in Long Beach with her family.

Senator Monique Limón represents the 19th Senate District, which includes Santa Barbara, Ventura, Goleta, Buellton, Carpinteria, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Solvang, Camarillo, Fillmore, Ojai, Oxnard, Santa Paula, and Port Hueneme. She currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee.

VISIÓN (Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods) is a coalition of environmental justice, frontline, and public health community based organizations in Kern and Los Angeles Counties that formed with the goal of ending neighborhood oil and gas drilling.