SAN FRANCISCO— Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today for issuing a second permit allowing oil to flow through the Las Flores Pipeline System near Santa Barbara. The permit waives certain federal pipeline safety regulations for the onshore pipeline, which ruptured and caused a massive oil spill in 2015.

“Trump officials have doubled down on a dangerous game of letting their oil industry friends play by different safety rules. That’s completely unacceptable and we’re going to court to hold them accountable,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If there’s another oil spill, ocean wildlife and Californians will be the ones paying the price. The federal government shouldn’t be barging in with lax oversight and unfairly squashing California’s efforts to protect its own coast.”

This was the second special permit that the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued to Sable Offshore Corp., the pipelines’ owner, since December. The groups also sued over the first one, but the court ruled the new permit moots that lawsuit.

The Trump administration has circumvented California regulators and fast-tracked the restart of the Santa Ynez Unit. In March the administration issued an unprecedented order directing Sable to “prioritize and allocate pipeline transportation services for hydrocarbons” under the Defense Production Act. California has challenged that Trump order in federal court.

The Trump administration has claimed a national “energy emergency” to fast-track approvals for the embattled pipeline and other projects.

“Sable continues to operate the Las Flores Pipeline System with impunity and disregard for the safety of our communities,” said Mati Waiya, executive director for the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation. “This corrosion-prone pipeline is a ticking time bomb that threatens Chumash lifeways and maritime culture, as well as the ecological integrity of our unique coastal waters. We will not give up the fight until we know our communities and coastline are safe.”

Today’s lawsuit says the new special permit violates the Pipeline Safety Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act by failing to conduct the necessary environmental reviews or make the required findings about pipeline safety. It also says PHMSA unlawfully took jurisdiction over the pipeline away from California.

PHMSA originally approved Sable Offshore Corp.’s restart plan on Dec. 22, after it reclassified the onshore pipelines that start in Santa Barbara County and terminate in Kern County as “interstate” on Dec. 17. This change was the Trump administration’s attempt to strip oversight of the pipeline from California’s State Fire Marshal Office and give it to PHMSA.

On Sept. 8 Sable sent a letter to Santa Barbara County requesting approval to dig along 12 areas of the pipeline to determine whether repair of newly-discovered “anomalies” is required. On the same day and before receiving approval, the company started digging.

In July the U.S. House also approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that, if enacted, would allow the federal government to take control of private and state land that the pipeline traverses.

The pipeline system had been shut down since 2015, after it ruptured and spilled 450,000 gallons of crude oil at Refugio State Beach. The oil spill devastated 150 miles of the California coast, killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals and shutting down beaches and fisheries.

Sable purchased the unit in 2024 from ExxonMobil and restarted the pipelines in March, one day after the Trump administration’s order.

Numerous legal challenges have been filed over the pipelines’ restart. Last year the Center for Biological Diversity and Wishtoyo Foundation, along with their partners at the Environmental Defense Center, won an injunction prohibiting restart of the pipelines absent all necessary approvals. Restart of the pipelines placed Sable in violation of the injunction, and that case is pending in state court.

Today’s lawsuit was filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the Center for Biological Diversity on behalf of itself and Wishtoyo Foundation and the Environmental Defense Center on behalf of itself and Get Oil Out!, Santa Barbara County Action Network, Sierra Club and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.