A federal district court on Tuesday sided with Santa Barbara County and dismissed parts of a lawsuit filed by Sable Offshore Corp. that claimed the county violated its constitutional rights.

Judge Dolly Gee found that the county did not violate Sable’s rights after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted down a permit transfer from ExxonMobil to Sable.

Representatives of Sable and the county declined to comment on the decision.

Sable sued the county in May 2025 after the board first deadlocked on a permit transfer. The lawsuit continued after the Board of Supervisors later voted 3-1 to deny the transfer in December.

The Houston-based oil company argued in its claim that the decision violated its constitutional rights and counted as a taking of Sable’s property.

While the law traditionally counts seizures as takings of property, it does acknowledge cases in which the government imposes laws that restrict an owner’s ability to use their own property.

Sable argued that the county wanted to stall the company’s operations.

The company also claimed that other authorizations and laws — such as the Defense Production Act, which President Donald Trump used in March to direct Sable to begin oil production — preempt local county ordinances.

Gee disagreed.

The judge granted motions filed by the county and the Environmental Defense Center to dismiss several constitutional claims and a breach of contract claim.

She also found that the company’s argument invoking the Defense Production Act oversteps the law as written.

Gee did leave some arguments open to amendments if Sable were to come forward with new evidence or revisions.

Tara Rengifo, an Environmental Defense Center senior attorney, praised the court’s decision.

“This ruling reinforces that compliance with environmental laws and established regulatory processes is not optional,” Rengifo said. “Santa Barbara County’s policies are intended to protect the community from oil operators who do not comply with the law, and we remain committed to ensuring those protections are upheld.”

The decision concerns the Santa Ynez Unit, which is owned and operated by Sable. The company purchased the facilities from ExxonMobil in 2024. The unit includes a pipeline, offshore oil platforms, and a processing center along the Gaviota Coast.

One of the pipelines that Sable owns is the same pipeline that ruptured in 2015. The Refugio oil spill dumped more than 140,000 gallons of oil into the ocean and onto the shoreline.

The pipeline owner at the time, Plains All American, was found criminally and civilly liable for the spill. The company paid out more than $50 million to the state, $60 million to the federal government, and $230 million to local fishermen and residents, among others, for the spill.

Sable has worked to restart operations and rehabilitate the pipeline since it purchased the unit. The company has conducted construction on the pipeline despite injunctions from the California Coastal Commission.