California filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Sable Offshore Corp.’s restart of the Las Flores Pipeline System serving the offshore Santa Ynez Unit. California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the motion on May 1, 2026, asking the court to revoke the federal order to restart the pipeline and to block the transportation of oil through the pipeline system. The pipeline, which was shut down following the 2015 Refugio oil spill, is critical to restarting oil production in the Santa Ynez Unit.

The motion is part of a lawsuit, filed in March 2026, challenging the order issued under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to restart the pipeline. The state argues that the order exceeds federal authority. The motion argues that the “ongoing operation of the pipeline causes irreparable harm to California’s sovereign and property interests, as well as to its environment and public safety…” Bonta states that the “equities and public interest tilt strongly in favor” of stopping the order.

The motion is part of the state’s second lawsuit challenging the pipeline restart. In January, California sued the federal government for taking regulatory authority over the pipeline system after the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) asserted regulatory authority over the pipelines by reclassifying them as “interstate” rather than “intrastate” pipelines.

The lawsuit also challenges the PHMSA’s approval of Sable’s restart plan before completion of state-mandated safety requirements and approval of the company’s request for an “emergency special permit” that waives certain safety rules.

In a separate state legal matter, a Santa Barbara County judge recently denied Sable’s effort to rescind the preliminary injunction prohibiting the restart of the pipeline system. The injunction against the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) requires Sable to provide advance notice before restarting onshore pipeline operations. Sable, however, restarted the pipeline in March under the authority of the federal Defense Production Act (DPA) order.