BILL NUMBER: AB 1650 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
FEBRUARY 13, 2012
An act to add Section 769 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1650, as amended, Portantino. Public utilities: emergency and
disaster preparedness.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations
and water corporations .
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, permits local
governments to create disaster councils by ordinance, and to develop
plans for meeting any condition constituting a local emergency or
state of emergency, as specified.
This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to
establish standards for disaster and emergency preparedness plans, as
specified. The bill would require an electrical corporation, as
defined, to develop, adopt, and update an emergency and disaster
preparedness plan, as specified. The bill would require every
county and city within the electrical corporation's service area to
designate a point of contact for the electrical corporation to
consult with on emergency and disaster preparedness plans. The bill
would require a water company regulated by the commission to develop,
adopt, and update an emergency and disaster preparedness plan, as
specified. The bill would declare county and city participation in
the preparation of electrical corporations' emergency and disaster
preparedness plans is critical to a statewide emergency response and,
thus, is an issue of statewide concern. The bill would impose
a state-mandated local program by requiring an electrical
corporation, in developing, adopting, and updating its emergency and
disaster preparedness plan, to meet with, and consult, cities and
counties within that corporation's service area, as specified ,
and by imposing new duties on counties and cities .
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. Section 769 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
769. (a) The Public Utilities Commission
commission shall establish standards for disaster and emergency
preparedness plans, including, but not limited to, use of weather
reports to preposition manpower and equipment before anticipated
severe weather, methods of improving communications between
government agencies and the public, and methods of working to control
and mitigate an emergency or disaster and its aftereffects.
(b) An electrical corporation , as defined in
Section 218, providing service in California shall develop,
adopt, and update an emergency and disaster preparedness plan in
compliance with the standards established by the Public
Utilities Commission in commission pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(1) (A) In developing and adopting an
emergency and disaster preparedness plan, an electrical corporation
providing service in California shall meet with, and consult,
appropriate representatives of every county and city within that
electrical corporation's service area in California.
(B) Every county and city within the electrical corporation's
service area in California shall designate a point of contact for the
electrical corporation to consult with on emergency and disaster
preparedness plans.
(C) The electrical corporation shall provide the point of contact
designated pursuant to subparagraph (B) an opportunity to comment on
draft emergency and disaster preparedness plans.
(2) For the purposes of best preparing an electrical corporation
for future emergencies or disasters, an emergency and disaster
preparedness plan shall address recent emergencies and disasters
associated with the electrical corporation or similarly situated
corporations, and shall address remedial actions for possible
emergencies or disasters that may involve that corporation's
provision of service.
(3) Every two years, in order to update and improve that
electrical corporation's emergency and disaster preparedness
plan, an electrical corporation providing service in California shall
meet with, and consult, appropriate representatives of every county
and city within that electrical corporation's service
area.
(4) For the purposes of best preparing an electrical corporation
for future emergencies or disasters, a an
electrical corporation updating its emergency and disaster
preparedness plan shall review the disasters and emergencies that
have affected similarly situated corporations since the adoption of
the plan, remedial actions taken during those emergencies or
disasters, and proposed changes to the plan. The electrical
corporation shall adopt in its plan the changes that will best
ensure the electrical corporation is reasonably prepared
to deal with a disaster or emergency.
(c) A meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be noticed and
shall be conducted in a public meeting that allows for the
participation of appropriate representatives of counties and cities
within the electrical corporation's service area.
(1) A county participating in a meeting pursuant to subdivision
(b) shall inform each city within the county of the time and place of
the meeting.
(2) An electrical corporation holding a meeting pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall provide participating counties and cities with
the opportunity to provide written and verbal input into
regarding the corporation's emergency and
disaster preparedness plan. For purposes of this public meeting,
an electrical corporation may convene a closed meeting with
representatives from every county and city within that electrical
corporation's service area to discuss sensitive security-related
information in the electrical corporation's emergency and disaster
preparedness plan and to solicit comment.
(3) An electrical corporation shall notify the Public
Utilities Commission commission of the date,
time, and location of a meeting pursuant to subdivision
(b).
(d) An electrical corporation shall conduct a meeting pursuant to
subdivision (b) within three months of the of this section
no later than April 1, 2013 , and every two
years thereafter.
(e) An electrical corporation shall memorialize a meeting pursuant
to subdivision (b), and shall submit its records of the meeting to
the Public Utilities Commission commission
.
(f) (1) A water company regulated by the commission shall develop,
adopt, and update an emergency and disaster preparedness plan in
compliance with the standards established by the commission pursuant
to subdivision (a). This requirement shall be deemed fulfilled when
the water company files an emergency and disaster preparedness plan
pursuant to another state statutory requirement.
(2) A water company developing, adopting, or updating an emergency
and disaster preparedness plan pursuant to paragraph (1) shall hold
meetings with representatives from the counties and cities in the
water company's service area regarding the emergency and disaster
preparedness plan.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that
county and city participation in the preparation of electrical
corporations' emergency and disaster preparedness plans is critical
to a statewide emergency response and, thus, is an issue of statewide
concern and not a municipal affair, as that term is used in Section
5 of Article XI of the California Constitution.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. 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.