Selected Excerpts of the Santa Barbara County Comprehensive
Plan
Land Use Element
The Comprehensive Plan is the County's basic planning
document. Pursuant to California planning and zoning law, a local
government's approval of zoning, subdivisions, and development must
be consistent with an adopted general plan. Also by law, the general
plan contains 7 mandatory elements, including (1) land use, (2)
circulation, (3) housing, (4) conservation, (5) open space, (6)
noise, and (7) safety.
The land-use element, in general, identifies the proposed general
distribution and intensity of uses of the land for housing, business,
industry, and other categories of land uses. Santa Barbara County's
Land Use Element contains several development policies. The following
policies directly relate to energy development.
Santa Barbara County Comprehensive Plan
Land Use Element Policies Exclusive to Oil & Gas
Land-Use Policy 10:
Impacts of oil, gas, and produced-water
pipelines outside of industry facilities shall be minimized by requiring
the use of available or planned common carrier and multiple-user
pipelines to the maximum extent feasible. New pipeline construction
shall be permitted only if the Planning Commission determines that
the use of available or planned common carrier and multiple-user
pipelines is not feasible or is not environmentally preferable to
alternative proposals. New pipelines that are permitted shall be
constructed, operated and maintained as common carrier or multiple-user
pipelines unless the Planning Commission determines it is not feasible.
New multiple-user pipelines shall provide equitable access to all
shippers with physically compatible stock on a nondiscriminatory
basis.
New pipelines shall be restricted to approved corridors that have
undergone comprehensive environmental review unless the Planning
Commission determines that such corridors are not available, safe,
technically feasible, or the environmentally preferred route for
the proposed pipeline. The required environmental review for proposed
pipelines shall include analysis to determine what cumulative impacts
might result in adding future pipelines to that corridor.
The design of new common carrier and multiple-user pipelines shall
take into account the reasonable, foreseeable needs of other potential
shippers. If other pipeline projects are expected to be located
in the same corridor, the proposed project shall be required to
coordinate concurrent or "shadow" construction with the
other projects where practical.
Permits for new pipeline construction shall require engineering
of pipe placement and burial within the corridor to minimize incremental
widening of the consolidated corridor during subsequent pipeline
projects, unless the proposed route is determined to be unacceptable
for additional pipelines. (86-GP-18)
Land-Use Policy 11
11. For the purpose of ensuring safe, orderly, and planned development
of oil and gas resources, the Board of Supervisors designates the
northwestern and midwestern portion of the county as the North County
Consolidation Planning Area, or NCCPA (as defined under the section
"Other Definitions" in this element) and subjects oil
and gas development in this planning area to the following policies:
a. Due to estimated oil and gas reserves located offshore, the
County has prepared a study entitled Siting
Gas Processing Facilities: Screening & Siting Criteria.
That study is incorporated herein by reference to guide a comprehensive
analysis of alternative sites should the county receive an application
for a Development Plan to construct or expand a facility in the
NCCPA for treating or processing either onshore or offshore gas
production. The criteria are designed to optimize public safety,
environmental protection, and the benefits of consolidation. (89-GP-9)
Land-Use Policy 12
Preamble:
The county has conducted a comparative assessment of available
modes for shipping large volumes of crude
oil which are produced from offshore fields, processed locally
and requiring transportation to refineries. The assessment concluded
that, although pipelines exhibit potentially significant adverse
impacts to the environment, they are measurably the environmentally
preferred mode of transportation when compared to marine tanker
and rail. Consequently, the county shall require that, to the maximum
feasible extent, crude oil shall be shipped via pipeline from local
processing facilities to refineries as specified below. Presently
this policy does not apply to facilities that serve only onshore
fields however, it shall apply to facilities that serve both onshore
and offshore fields as well as only offshore fields.
Policy:
If an onshore pipeline for transporting crude oil to refineries
is determined to be technically and economically feasible, proposals
for expansion, modification, or construction of new oil and gas
processing facilities, which receive oil from offshore fields exclusively
or from both offshore and onshore fields, shall be conditioned to
require transportation of oil through the pipeline when constructed,
unless such condition would not be feasible for a particular shipper.
a. Pipeline transportation of crude oil to a refining center served
by a pipeline is presumed to be technically and economically feasible
and the required method of transportation to that center.
b. Pipeline transportation of crude oil is presumed feasible for
a particular shipper if a pipeline is in operation to the refining
center of the shipper's choice.
c. Crude oil processing facilities shall be conditioned to require
that each shipper's oil leaving those facilities be transported
by pipeline when a pipeline is in operation to the refining center
of the shipper's choice.
d. Until pipelines become available and for refining centers not
served by pipeline, other modes of oil transportation are allowed
consistent with County policies. Rail is not preferred for large
volume shipments of oil.
e. For refining centers served by pipeline, other modes of transportation
up to the limits of the permitted capacity for those modes, and
with assurances that the shipper or transportation facility operator
can and will mitigate the environmental impacts caused by the alternate
transportation mode, are allowed only under the following circumstances:
(1) Pipeline unavailability or inadequate capacity; or
(2) A refinery upset lasting no longer than two (2) months and
only where the alternate refining center is not served by pipeline;
or
(3) An emergency which may include a national state of emergency.
Implementing Action
The Planning Commission shall implement this policy pursuant to
Section 35-296 of Article III, Chapter 35 of the Santa Barbara County
Code (inland zoning ordinance). The regulations of Section 35-296
apply specifically to separation of oil and water from an offshore
area and processing/treatment plants that are not described in the
previous section, 35-295. This Oil Transportation Policy is intended
to apply to facilities which process production obtained exclusively
from offshore fields or from both offshore and onshore fields. (91-GP-3)
Land Use Policy 13
Oil and gas facilities shall
be dismantled and removed, their host
sites cleaned of contamination and
reclaimed to natural conditions, or conditions
to accommodate reasonably foreseeable
development, in an orderly and timely
manner that avoids long-term impacts
to the health, safety, and welfare
of the public and environment.
Applicability: Policy 13 shall apply
to all existing and future onshore land
uses that are, or at one time were, wholly
or partially dedicated to the production,
processing, storage, and transportation
of oil or gas derived from offshore reservoirs.
Policy 13 shall also apply to all oil
refineries, regardless of the source
of crude oil.
Implementing Procedures:
(a) The County shall establish a process
in its Coastal and Inland Zoning Codes
for determining if, based on reasonable
evidence, permitted land uses or independent
business functions thereof have discontinued
operations permanently. The County shall
also establish a discretionary process
to permit the removal, retention, or
abandonment in-place of facilities, structures,
and improvements associated with permitted
land uses determined to be abandoned,
and to reclaim host sites to natural
conditions, or other conditions, in compliance
with applicable laws and permits. This
permit shall be independent of any development
permits associated with future use of
the land, but may be processed concurrently
with development permits.
(b) Permittees shall obtain all
applicable permits to remove (or
retain) facilities, structures, and
other improvements, and reclaim the
host site upon the intentional abandonment
of operations of a permitted land
use. Otherwise, the permittee shall
obtain either County approval to
defer abandonment or all applicable
permits to remove facilities and
reclaim host sites under the following
circumstances:
(1) Any event designated in an
existing County permit that would
require consideration of abandonment;
or
(2) The permitted land use has
become idled.
(c) Long-term salvage operations,
recycling facilities, or junkyards
shall not be considered ancillary
to permitted land uses. Long-term
salvage operations shall require appropriate
permits to operate as legal uses. “Long-term,” for purposes
of this procedure, shall constitute a period
of two or more years. Permittees who desire to
operate long-term salvage or recycling operations
at an oil/gas site shall first obtain the appropriate
permits to do so, and such permits shall be issued
independent of the oil/gas operation.
South Coast Policy 4:
The sections of the Petroleum Ordinance, Ordinance No. 661, and
"Statement of Policy Relative to the Location of On-shore Facilities"
(Statement) that address oil and gas processing facilities are hereby
incorporated by reference in the Land Use Element. The statement
does not apply, however, to the South Coast Consolidation Planning
Area, which is defined in Policy 5 below.
South Coast Policy 5:
The Board of Supervisors designates the unincorporated area from
Point Arguello to the western boundary of the City of Santa Barbara,
and from the ridge of the Santa Ynez Mountains to the three-mile
offshore limit line on the south and southwest as the South Coast
Consolidation Planning Area (SCCPA). Within the SCCPA, the Board
of Supervisors strongly encourages, to the maximum extent feasible,
commingled processing of oil and gas production from offshore reservoirs
and zones to minimize industrialization within this area and to
minimize adverse environmental impacts associated with construction
and operation of multiple, segregated processing facilities. Additionally,
the Board of Supervisors requires consolidation of oil and gas processing
sites.
IMPLEMENTING ACTION
A. Definition of new production.
Reference to the terms "new production" or "new
oil and gas production" or any similar reference for the purpose
of this policy shall mean:
1. the development of any oil and/or gas after the adoption of
these policies which requires new discretionary local, state, or
federal permits unless it is from an existing well or platform;
or
2. the development of any oil and/or gas which, after the adoption
of these Policies, requires approval of a new platform, or a new
subsea or onshore well completion.
If the operator contends that a Constitutionally-protected vested
right exists within the context of existing permits to process new
production at a facility which is not at a County designated consolidated
site, the operator may file a request for a determination of exemption
to allow processing of that production at the nonconsolidated site.
B. Consolidation of processing facilities.
All efforts shall be made to consolidate oil and gas processing
facilities. New oil and gas production from offshore reservoirs
shall be processed at facilities approved for consolidation to the
maximum extent technically and environmentally feasible. Commingled
processing shall be required to avoid or reduce project and cumulative
impacts -- considering environmental, socioeconomic, safety, and
land use concerns -- that otherwise would result from construction
and/or operation of redundant Processing units, redundant pipelines,
and redundant ancillary facilities. Construction of new processing
facilities at consolidated sites shall be considered only if the
County determines that the new facilities would not be unnecessarily
redundant, finding that one or more of the following conditions
apply.
First, permitted processing capacity at the sites designated for
consolidation is insufficient for a period of time that would render
development of the proposed offshore reservoir(s)
infeasible. Determining applicability of this condition shall include
consideration of feasible delays in development of the offshore
reservoir(s) to maximize use of currently permitted processing capacity
at sites designated for consolidation. Determination of condition
applicability also shall include consideration of expanding existing
facilities in favor of constructing new facilities.
Second, the specific chemical characteristics and physical properties
of oil or gas from a particular reservoir would render development
of the resource technically infeasible unless specialized units
can be built. Specialized units may include partial dehydration
equipment if it is required to adapt a resource to the technical
requirements of a processing facility.
Third, commingling the production in approved processing facilities
at designated consolidated sites is determined to be environmentally
unacceptable.
Approval of a collocated processing facility at a consolidated
site shall be contingent upon shared use of existing ancillary facilities
to the maximum extent feasible.
C. Consolidation of Processing Sites.
The oil and gas processing sites at Gaviota
(APN 81-130-07 and 81-130-44) and Las
Flores Canyon (APN 81-220-14 and 81-230-19) are designated as
consolidated sites for processing oil and gas production from offshore
reservoirs and zones. Any new oil and gas production from offshore
reservoirs and zones that is processed within the South Coast Consolidation
Planning Area shall be processed at these two sites.
D. Equitable, Nondiscriminatory Access to Consolidated Facilities
and Sites.
Operators and owners of County-designated consolidated facilities
and sites shall make their facilities and property available for
commingled processing and consolidation of oil and gas facilities
on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis.
If existing processing capacity is insufficient to accommodate
proposed production and necessary new facilities are not permittable
pursuant to the County's consolidation policies, operators of consolidated
facilities shall reduce throughput on a pro-rata basis to accommodate
other developers.
E. Review of Permits
The County shall review permits that are approved after August
12, 1985 for new or modified oil and gas facilities when throughput,
averaged (arithmetic mean) over any twelve (12) consecutive months,
does not exceed 3 percent of the facility's maximum permitted operating
capacity. The review shall be conducted in a duly-noticed public
hearing to determine if facility abandonment or facility modifications
are appropriate.
F. Review of South Coast Consolidation Policies
The County shall periodically review the South Coast Consolidation
policies in view of new or updated information, such as: revised
production forecasts, revised air quality data, advancements in
technology for reduction of air emissions, and results of impact
monitoring programs. The results of the policy review shall be presented
in a duly-noticed public hearing, and appropriate revisions in the
policies shall be pursued as deemed necessary by the County.
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