Jan. 29, 2026
Santa Barbara mineral owners sue California over oil-well setback law
A Santa Barbara family filed a federal lawsuit claiming California's oil-well setback law SB 1137 has stripped their mineral rights of all economically viable use without compensation. Attorneys argue the law violates the Fifth Amendment by forcing property owners to bear the cost of the state's climate policy.
A pair of Santa Barbara County mineral rights owners are taking California to federal court, claiming the state's sweeping oil-well setback law has rendered their family's decades-old mineral holdings worthless without compensation.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday challenges SB 1137, which limits drilling of new oil wells, on the grounds that it violates the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to just compensation under the Fifth Amendment by effectively stripping their minera...
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