California, again targeting Kern oil production, sues federal government over fracking review

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a coalition of state agencies Friday in suing the Trump administration over its recent review of fracking impacts in the Central Valley, essentially calling on the courts to block the Bureau of Land Management from resuming lease auctions of federal land for oil production primarily in Kern County.

The federal lawsuit, coming less than a week after an environmental group sued over the same BLM review, means a yearslong legal process that culminated in the release of an amended environmental review of fracking practices last year may have to begin anew. That has the potential to stall all new federal drilling leases in the state for years to come.