Santa Barbara County Increases Coastal Mitigation Fee for Sable Offshore

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Tuesday to increase the annual coastal mitigation fee for Sable Offshore's Santa Ynez Unit from $132,750 to $318,600. This fee hike follows Sable's restart of partial oil production from its offshore platforms around March 2024, after the company took over the Santa Ynez Unit's platforms, processing facility, and pipelines. The increased fee will be retroactive to the restart of operations. The county has imposed fees on offshore oil operators since the 1980s, with the funds allocated to nonprofits and coastal projects. The new fee was calculated based on the same number of “points” assigned to the Santa Ynez Unit prior to the 2015 Refugio oil spill, although inflation has increased the dollar amount. Sable had requested that the fee increase not be retroactive. The fee situation has revealed complexities in the county's legal and regulatory dealings with Sable, particularly regarding the transfer of old permits from Exxon to Sable, which has been upheld by a federal judge. Supervisor Bob Nelson raised questions about billing responsibilities, while Supervisor Steve Lavagnino supported the retroactive fee increase, affirming the county's authority to collect it. The fee increase is part of ongoing tensions between Sable and California regulators, with various lawsuits challenging the restart of offshore oil production.