BILL NUMBER: AB 1610 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 6, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 4, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Nunez and Eng
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to add Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 3890) to Division
3 of the Public Resources Code.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1610, as amended, Nunez. California Petroleum Refinery
Facilities Standards Board.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) in the
Resources Agency, and specifies the powers and duties of the
commission with respect to energy resources in the state. Existing
law requires major oil producers, refiners, major marketers, major
oil transporters, and major oil storers to supply to the commission
weekly, monthly, and annually certain designated information
regarding petroleum supplies.
This bill would create the California Petroleum Refinery
Facilities Standards Board, and would require an owner or operator of
a petroleum refinery facility in the state to submit information to
the board relating to the capacity and operational status of the
facility. The board would be authorized to direct local air pollution
control districts and air quality management districts to inspect
petroleum refinery facilities in the state. By imposing new duties on
these local air districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The bill would require the board to produce supply and demand
forecasts for petroleum.
The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to request a
petroleum refinery facility in the state to voluntarily adjust or
delay a scheduled major maintenance.
The bill would subject violations of its provisions to specified
civil and criminal penalties , thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program by creating a new crime .
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 3890) is added to
Division 3 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 9. REFINERY FACILITIES
3890. (a) The California Petroleum Refinery Facilities Standards
Board is hereby created to implement the requirements of this
chapter.
(b) The board shall consist of seven members: the Attorney
General; the Controller; a member of the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission; a member of the State Air
Resources Board; a member of an air pollution control or air quality
management district board, to be selected by the Senate; a technical
person appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate; and a
public person selected by the Speaker of the Assembly. The board
shall be supported by a reasonable number of staff members.
(c) The board shall provide on a quarterly basis an opportunity
for public comment.
(d) The board shall report in writing to the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature on a quarterly basis on its progress in
implementing this chapter. The report shall include, but need not be
limited to, information concerning refinery downtime scheduling and
coordination, and wholesale price fluctuations.
(e) As used in this chapter "board" means the California Petroleum
Refinery Facilities Standards Board.
(f) As used in this chapter "downtime" means any period of
inoperation of the facility that reduces its normal capacity to
refine petroleum.
3891. An owner or operator of a petroleum refinery facility in
the state shall report to the board all of the following:
(a) On a monthly basis, whether and to what extent, during the
preceding month, a facility was down or operating at reduced capacity
and the reasons therefore. This accounting shall reflect the actual
downtime at each facility. The report shall include all of the
following:
(1) Reasons for each unscheduled downtime at each refinery.
(2) Amount of product lost due to downtime.
(3) Actions taken by the refinery and its parent company to
minimize disruption to the market or price swings due to downtime.
(4) Reasons for scheduled maintenance that took longer than
scheduled.
(5) Information on the type of each scheduled project at each
refinery.
(b) On a daily basis, the operational status of each facility.
(c) On March 1 of each year, information regarding scheduled major
maintenance for the next 12 months and projections for the next
three years.
3892. (a) The board shall maintain records of petroleum refinery
facility downtime and shall provide these records to the
commission State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission on a daily basis.
(b) The board may direct air pollution control districts and air
quality management districts to inspect the records, data, accounts,
books, or documents of a petroleum refinery facility, if the
inspection is reasonably related to the public interest of the people
of California.
3893. (a) Information submitted to the board pursuant to this
chapter shall be held in confidence by the board and aggregated to
the extent necessary to ensure confidentiality, if public disclosure
of the specific information or data to the public would result in
unfair competitive disadvantage to the owner or operator that
submitted that information.
(b) If the board receives a request to publicly disclose
unaggregated information, or otherwise proposes to publicly disclose
information, notice of the request or proposal shall be provided to
the owner or operator that submitted that information.
(c) The board shall issue a written decision that sets forth its
reasons for making the determination whether each item of information
for which a claim of confidentiality is made shall remain
confidential or shall be publicly disclosed.
(d) Information submitted to the board shall not be deemed
confidential if the owner or operator that submitted the information
has made it public.
3894. The board shall review all relevant state and federal laws,
including, but not limited to, Division of Occupational Safety and
Health regulations, State Air Resources Board regulations, and
regional water quality control board regulations, and air pollution
control and air quality management district regulations, as they
pertain to petroleum refinery facilities, and prepare a report to the
Legislature by January 1, 2009, identifying the laws and regulations
that may be in conflict.
3895. (a) Air pollution control and air quality management
districts shall audit and inspect petroleum refinery facilities in
the state that fail to comply with procedures, criteria, standards,
or protocols established by the board to implement the requirements
of this chapter.
(b) Air pollution control and air quality management districts
are vested with the ability to investigate any petroleum refinery
facility in the state without notice. The districts are vested with
the ability to investigate to ensure that the interests of California'
s citizens and consumers are served, protected, and represented in
relation to the availability of gasoline.
3896. (a) The board shall by January 1, 2009, and every three
years thereafter, produce a supply and demand forecast for petroleum
for the next three years.
(b) The board shall by January 1, 2009, and every six years
thereafter, produce a supply and demand forecast for petroleum for
the next ten years.
3897. (a) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission may request a petroleum refinery facility in the state to
voluntarily adjust or delay a scheduled major maintenance, if the
maintenance is not a regulatory compliance, reliability, or safety
repair.
(b) The refinery shall respond in writing within 24 hours if the
refinery denies the request and explain the grounds for the refusal.
3898. (a) The board shall notify any person who has failed to
timely provide the information required by this chapter. If, within
five days after being notified of the failure to provide the
information, the person fails to supply the information, the person
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than five hundred
dollars ($500), but not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) per
day for each day the submission of information is refused or delayed,
unless the person has timely filed objections with the board
regarding the information and the board has not yet held a hearing on
the matter.
(b) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail
for a period not to exceed one year, or by a fine of not more than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
(c) Any person who willfully makes any false statement,
representation, or certification in any record, report, plan, or
other document submitted to the board pursuant to this chapter shall
be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000).
(d) The board, in consultation with the air pollution control
districts and air quality management districts, may adopt additional
penalties applicable to any person or entity who is in violation of
any provision of this chapter.
(e) The board may seek an injunction from a court of competent
jurisdiction to require compliance with the requirements of this
chapter. This subdivision shall not limit any authority of the
commission or air pollution control districts or air quality
management districts to seek injunctions within their jurisdictions.
(f) The remedies and penalties provided by this section are
cumulative to each other.
(g) For the purposes of this section, "person" shall mean the
responsible corporate officer.
3899. Nothing in this chapter shall result in the modification,
delay, or abrogation of any deadline, standard, rule, or regulation
adopted by a federal, state, or local agency for the purposes of
protecting public health or the environment, including, but not
limited to, any requirements imposed by the State Air Resources Board
or by an air pollution control district or an air quality management
district.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new
crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the
penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime
within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.