The Los Angeles City Planning Department on Aug. 9 released a draft of the city’s proposed Oil and Gas Drilling Ordinance, with the goal of having the ordinance considered by the Los Angeles Planning Commission in fall 2022.

At 6 p.m. on Aug. 30, city planning officials will hold a virtual presentation, Q&A session and public hearing on the proposed ordinance which would amend the Los Angeles Municipal Code to prohibit all new oil and gas drilling activities and make any existing extraction a nonconforming use in all zones of the city.

It would phase out oil drilling activities, which are known hazards to public health and safety, by immediately banning new oil and gas extraction and requiring the removal of existing operations after an amortization period.

The hearing is an opportunity to provide public comment on the proposed ordinance to a hearing officer. The public hearing is used to collect comments. No decisions will be made at the time of public hearing.

Participants may join the public hearing online or by phone at any time between 6:45-8:30 p.m. The hearing officer will consider all public comments and any written communication submitted prior to or at the hearing.

Any written communication must include case number CPC-2022-4648-CA. Comments may be submitted by email to planning.oildrilling@lacity.org or by hard copy to Jennifer Torres, Los Angeles City Planning, 200 N. Spring St., Room 701, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

For information, visit planning.lacity.org/oil-and-gas-drilling-ordinance.