BILL NUMBER: AB 1776 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 19, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member DeVore
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Maze )
( Coauthors: Senators
Aanestad, Battin, and Hollingsworth
)
JANUARY 14, 2008
An act to add Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 25450) to
Division 15 of, and to repeal Sections 25524.1 and 25524.2 of, the
Public Resources Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1776, as amended, DeVore. Energy: nuclear powerplant.
The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Act prohibits the certification of a new nuclear fission
thermal powerplant and land use in the state for a new nuclear
fission thermal powerplant, until the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) makes a
finding regarding the existence of an approved and demonstrated
technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste. The
Energy Commission is also required to perform certain other duties
with regards to nuclear fission thermal powerplants.
This bill would repeal these prohibitions and would, instead,
prohibit the Energy Commission from certifying a site for a nuclear
fission thermal powerplant in seismically active areas or a nuclear
fission thermal powerplant using a once-through nuclear reactor
cooling system with a nuclear coolant outflow that is within 5 miles
of a designated coastal area of biological significance or is to a
navigable water. The Energy Commission and other state agencies would
be required to consider a dry cask storage system method approved by
the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be an appropriate
method for storing spent nuclear fuel and associated material.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Modern nuclear powerplants emit zero carbon dioxide emissions
and nuclear power is the only large scale and reliable electrical
energy generating technology that does not directly emit carbon
dioxide, which is thought to be a component of global warming or
climate change. Building new nuclear powerplants will allow
California to comply with the carbon emission mandates while still
meeting the state's growing need for electricity.
(b) More than one-half of California's electrical power is
generated by natural gas, which is imported from other nations and
states, and from coal. Natural gas prices are highly sensitive to
supply and demand fluctuations, due to the volatile world market
conditions , and these . These price
fluctuations can harm both consumers and businesses.
(c) Modern, efficient, and safe nuclear power should be considered
part of the solution of improving California's ability to generate
reliable, affordable, and clean energy, so as to benefit California's
consumers, the economy, and the environment.
(d) To maximize the safety and minimize environmental impacts of
any new commercial nuclear powerplants that may be built in the
state, seismically active and biologically sensitive areas should be
excluded from site consideration. These exclusions have the
additional purpose of protecting ratepayers against construction cost
overruns that are frequently incurred when building in seismically
active or biologically sensitive areas.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 25450) is added to
Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.5. NUCLEAR POWER
25450. The commission shall not certify a site for a nuclear
fission thermal powerplant that has a 10 percent probability or
greater in a 50-year period of exceeding a peak acceleration of 30
percent gravity (0.30g) on hard rock, or equivalent acceleration on
other soils, as determined by the Probabilistic Seismic Hazard
Assessment for the State of California: California Department of
Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology Open-File Report 96-08,
United States Department of the Interior: United States Geological
Survey Open-File Report 96-706, as revised by Documentation for the
2002 Update of the National Seismic Hazard Maps: United States
Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-420, or as updated on or after
January 1, 2015.
25451. To reduce the environmental impact of the warm outflow of
nuclear fission thermal powerplant coolant waters, the commission
shall not certify a site for a nuclear fission thermal powerplant
that uses a once-through nuclear reactor cooling system if the
nuclear powerplant coolant outflow of that system meets either of the
following criteria:
(a) The outflow is located within five miles of a coastal area of
special biological significance, as determined by the State Water
Resources Control Board on or before June 1, 2003, pursuant to the
California Ocean Plan adopted pursuant to Section 13170.2 of the
Water Code, or as updated by the State Water Resources Control Board
on or after January 1, 2015.
(b) The outflow is to a navigable water.
25452. When certifying a new nuclear fission thermal powerplant
pursuant to this division, the commission shall consider a dry cask
storage system method approved by the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to be an appropriate method for storing spent
nuclear fuel and associated material.
25453. For purposes of taking an action with regard to approving,
reviewing, or issuing a permit or other grant authority to a new
nuclear fission thermal powerplant, a state agency shall deem a dry
cask storage system method approved by the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to be an acceptable method of storing spent
nuclear fuel and associated material for up to 100 years.
SEC. 3. Section 25524.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 25524.2 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.