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Environmental & Energy

Oct. 12, 2026

Judge strikes down California fracking ban, orders permit reviews

A Kern County judge found that California regulators unlawfully imposed a blanket ban on fracking permits and failed to substantiate a subsequent regulation. Environmental advocates urged the state to appeal.

A Kern County judge has tentatively struck down California's ban on hydraulic fracturing permits, ruling that state regulators imposed an unlawful blanket prohibition and failed to substantiate the environmental justification for a subsequent regulation.

In a Thursday decision, Superior Court Judge Bernard C. Barmann Jr. ruled largely in favor of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Aera Energy LLC and the Western States Petroleum Association in their challenges to restrictions imposed by the...

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