State's mineral owners seek immediate relief through the courts to halt law's impact and restore property rights, economic stability and energy independence
LOS ANGELES, April 17, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- California mineral owners filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1137, a law they claim authorizes the unprecedented and unlawful seizure of property rights for everyday Californians, according to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court (Case No. 25STCP01395).
The lawsuit cites the following issues and alleged impacts resulting from SB 1137, which took effect on June 27, 2024:
• The plaintiffs are California mineral owners, who own the underground mineral rights where oil and gas are produced, according to the suit. Royalty owners receive royalty income from the lease of mineral interests and, in exchange, receive a royalty income.
• "SB 1137 deprives Petitioners of all beneficial use of their property, thereby depriving them of their ownership rights without just compensation."
• "SB 1137 effectively prohibits the rework or maintenance of existing oil and gas wells, as well as the development of any new wells or production facilities, within a 3,200 foot (0.61 mile) radius of a lengthy list of land uses, each of which SB 1137 summarily characterizes as a "sensitive receptor." SB 1137 also imposes unreasonably burdensome and scientifically unsupported operational requirements on existing oil and gas wells and production facilities located within 3,200 feet of a sensitive receptor."
• "SB1137 is not based on facts or science. Among other things, SB 1137 includes a wholly arbitrary 3,200 foot setback, which effectively eliminates the possibility that any oil well can be utilized to its full potential because it is within 3,200 feet of a "sensitive receptor. There is no credible scientific report or analysis to support this arbitrary 3,200 setback."
• "Denies petitioners (and others) due process" and "equal protection" under the law in violation of both the California and United States constitutions.
• "An estimated 500,000 individual California royalty owners and their families, the majority of whom are middle-class individuals like Petitioners. These individuals come from diverse backgrounds, including ranchers, farmers, teachers, factory workers, retirees, foundations, religious organizations, municipalities, and many others. The average age of a royalty owner is over 60, and many rely on royalty income to supplement their Social Security benefits."
Monte Beard Sr., one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said: "My sister Merry and I were both born in Long Beach. We are third generation mineral owners going back to when my grandfather moved here from Minnesota and acquired mineral rights for our family in 1929. Royalties helped put my children through college, and I'd like them to be around as a legacy for my grandchildren, State officials can't simply take those royalties away from people at their political whim.
"I worked my whole career in the financial services office in the City of Long Beach and I have seen how important royalty income is to municipalities and hardworking California families. Royalties built many of the municipal buildings in the region, including the Long Beach Convention Center and Civic Center City Hall."
Kevin Ivey, a royalty owner directly impacted by SB 1137 said: "We all look forward to a clean energy future, and we need environmentally compliant, labor-friendly California-produced oil to get there. SB 1137 prevents this. This lawsuit isn't just a legal fight. It's a moral imperative, Royalty and mineral rights owners refuse to stand by as Sacramento legislators rob us of our property rights, destroy our livelihoods, and hand over our energy future to hostile foreign adversaries. We think California consumers agree."
According to the plaintiffs, SB 1137 also poses a significant threat to California's economy by driving up energy costs and jeopardizing local oil and gas jobs. It will increase reliance on oil imports from Saudi Arabia, South America, and Iraq, countries exempt from any environmental rules or regulations, they say, while claiming Californians continue to use petroleum products at the same level as they always have, the state will continue to pay more for imported oil, leading to higher gas prices.
Media Contact
Hector Barajas, Coalition of California Mineral Owners, 1 (323) 314-3342, [email protected], https://www.maynardnexsen.com
SOURCE Coalition of California Mineral Owners
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