Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 Tuesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance that would ban new oil and gas drilling citywide and phase out the city’s roughly 2,000 active and idle wells over the next 20 years.

The vote revives an effort the City first adopted in 2022, only to see it overturned in court after oil companies successfully argued that state law preempted local authority. In response, state lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 3233, explicitly reaffirming cities’ authority to regulate and prohibit oil drilling within their boundaries and clearing the way for Los Angeles to try again.

If approved on a second reading later this summer, the ordinance would prohibit new drilling, redrilling, and well expansions while reclassifying existing wells as nonconforming uses that can continue operating only during the phaseout period. If adopted, Los Angeles would become the largest city in the country to phase out existing urban oil wells.

The Westside has a direct stake in the outcome. Active oil wells remain in West Los Angeles, and neighboring Culver City has already adopted its own phaseout plan. The North Westwood Neighborhood Council formally supported the ordinance, citing data showing that more than 620,000 Angelenos live near active wells and that roughly 80 percent of the city’s active wells are located within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, and parks. CD11 Councilmember Traci Park was absent for Tuesday’s vote.

Environmental justice advocates have spent more than a decade pushing for the phaseout, arguing that urban drilling disproportionately impacts low-income Black and Latino communities that live near oil fields. Residents from Wilmington, South Los Angeles, and other drilling-impacted neighborhoods testified about air pollution, respiratory illness, and years of exposure to toxic emissions. Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson credited organizers with sustaining the campaign for more than a decade, describing a movement that stretched “from West Adams to West L.A.”

The ordinance is backed by the environmental justice coalition STAND-LA, which organized supporters to attend the meeting and submit public comments. Advocates celebrated Tuesday’s vote as a major milestone but say additional work remains, including efforts to revoke permits at the Warren E&P Banning and E&B Murphy drill sites and accelerate the plugging of idle wells rather than waiting for the 20-year phaseout to run its course.

The oil industry is expected to challenge the ordinance again. Industry attorneys have already warned that the phaseout could lead to new litigation, arguing that it infringes on property rights and could increase reliance on imported oil.

Before becoming law, the ordinance must return to the City Council for a final vote. Residents can submit comments through City Council File 17-0447-S2.