BILL NUMBER: AB 1900 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 19, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Gatto, Chesbro, and Roger Hernández
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Gordon and Skinner)
(Coauthors: Senators Cannella and Liu)
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to amend Sections Section
25420 of, and to repeal and add Section 25421
of , the Health and Safety Code, to add Section 25326 to
the Public Resources Code, and to add Sections 399.24 and 769 to the
Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1900, as amended, Gatto. Renewable energy resources:
biomethane.
Existing
(1) Existing law requires the
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to specify the maximum amount of
vinyl chloride that may be found in landfill gas. Existing law
prohibits a gas producer from knowingly selling, supplying, or
transporting to a gas corporation, and a gas corporation from
knowingly purchasing, landfill gas containing vinyl chloride in a
concentration exceeding the maximum amount determined by the PUC.
Existing law requires a person who produces, sells, supplies, or
releases landfill gas for sale offsite to a gas corporation to sample
and test, bimonthly, the gas at the point of distribution for
chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive
toxicity.
Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) to evaluate the environmental and health risks
posed by various hazardous substances.
This bill would require OEHHA to identify all
constituents that may be found in landfill gas that is to be injected
into a common carrier pipeline and that could adversely impact the
health and safety of the public, and to specify the maximum amount of
those constituents that may be found in that landfill gas. This bill
would require the PUC to develop reasonable and prudent testing
protocols for gas collected from a solid waste landfill that is to be
injected into a common carrier pipeline to determine if the gas
contains any of the identified constituents at levels that exceed the
standards set by OEHHA. This bill would prohibit a gas producer from
knowingly selling, supplying, transporting, or purchasing gas
collected from a hazardous waste landfill ,
in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, the Department
of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, to
compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose risks to
human health and that are found in biogas, as defined, at
concentrations that significantly exceed the concentrations of those
constituents in natural gas. The bill would require OEHHA to
determine the health protective levels for that list, as specified,
and would require the state board to identify realistic exposure
scenarios and the health risks associated with those scenarios, as
specified. The bill would require the state board to
determine the appropriate concentrations of those constituents, as
specified. The bill would also provide that actions taken pursuant to
the above-described requirements do not constitute regulations and
are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act .
The bill would further require the PUC to adopt, by rule or order,
(1) standards for biomethane that specify the concentrations of
constituents of concern that are reasonably necessary to protect
public health and ensure pipeline integrity and safety, as specified,
and (2) requirements for monitoring, testing, reporting, and
recordkeeping, as specified. The bill would require a gas
corporation, as defined, to comply with those standards and
requirements. The bill would require the PUC to require gas
corporation tariffs to condition access to common carrier pipelines
on the applicable customer meeting those standards and requirements.
The bill would also prohibit a person and a gas corporation from
knowingly engaging in specified transactions involving common carrier
pipelines and biogas collected from a hazardous waste landfill, as
defined.
The
(2) The Warren-Alquist State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
(Energy Commission) and requires it to prepare an integrated energy
policy report on or before November 1, 2003, and every 2 years
thereafter. The act requires the report to contain an overview of
major energy trends and issues facing the state, including, but not
limited to, supply, demand, pricing, reliability, efficiency, and
impacts on public health and safety, the economy, resources, and the
environment.
This bill would require the Energy Commission to hold public
hearings to identify impediments that limit procurement of
electricity generated from biomethane in California, including, but
not limited to, impediments to interconnection. The bill would
require the Energy Commission to offer solutions to those impediments
as part of the above-mentioned report.
This
(3) This bill would require the
PUC to adopt policies and programs that promote the in-state
production and distribution of biomethane.
Existing
(4) Existing law allows the PUC
to set heating and purity requirements for biomethane injected into a
gas pipeline. Existing law allows gas corporations to impose tariffs
on biomethane injected into their pipelines.
This bill would require the PUC to adopt pipeline access rules
that will ensure nondiscriminatory open access to each
corporation's gas pipeline system to any party for the purpose of
physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and
effectuating the delivery of gas ensure that each gas
corporation provides nondiscriminatory open access to its gas
pipeline system to any party for the purposes of physically
interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the
delivery of gas .
This bill would make other conforming changes.
(5) This bill would become operative only if this bill and AB 2196
of the 2011-12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective
on or before January 1, 2013.
Under
(6) Under existing law, a
violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule,
direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because this bill would require action by the PUC to implement
certain of its requirements, a violation of which would be a crime,
these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by
creating a new crime.
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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
This bill would become operative only if this bill and AB 2196 of
the 2011-12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on
or before January 1, 2013.
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 25420 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
25420. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission.
(b) "Delivery of landfill gas by dedicated pipeline" means gas
captured at a solid waste facility and transported from that site to
an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in the California
Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with
Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public
Utilities Code), that utilizes best available control technology for
the control of air pollutants, using a pipeline that is not a common
carrier pipeline used to transport natural gas to customers other
than the eligible renewable energy resource, or otherwise subject to
the jurisdiction of the commission.
(a) "Biogas" means gas that is produced from the anaerobic
decomposition of organic material.
(b) "Biomethane" means biogas that meets the standards adopted
pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 25421 for injection
into a common carrier pipeline.
(c) "Board" means the State Air Resources Board.
(d) "CalRecycle" means the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery.
(e) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission.
(f) "Common carrier pipeline" means a gas conveyance pipeline,
located in California, that is owned or operated by a utility or gas
corporation, excluding a dedicated pipeline.
(g) "Dedicated pipeline" means a conveyance of biogas or
biomethane that is not part of a common carrier pipeline system, and
which conveys biogas from a biogas producer to a conditioning
facility or an electrical generation facility.
(c)
(h) "Department" means the Department of Toxic
Substances Control.
(d)
(i) "Gas corporation" has the same meaning as defined
in Section 222 of the Public Utilities Code and is subject to rate
regulation by the commission.
(e)
(j) "Hazardous waste landfill" means a landfill that is
a hazardous waste facility, as defined in Section 25117.1.
(f)
(k) "Office" means the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment.
(g)
(l) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint
stock company, partnership, association, business concern, limited
liability company, or corporation. "Person" also includes any city,
county, district, and the state or any department or agency thereof,
or the federal government or any department or agency thereof to the
extent permitted by law.
(h) "Solid waste landfill" means a landfill that is a solid waste
facility, as defined in Section 40194 of the Public Resources Code,
or at which solid waste, as defined in Section 40191 of the Public
Resources Code, is disposed.
SEC. 2. Section 25421 of the Health and Safety
Code is amended to read:
25421. (a) (1) The office shall, by rule or order, identify all
constituents that may be found in landfill gas that is to be injected
into a common carrier pipeline and that could adversely impact the
health and safety of the public. Potential impacts include, but are
not limited to, health and safety hazards to utility employees or to
the general public, damage to pipeline facilities, and other impacts
that may inhibit the marketability of gas.
(2) The office shall, by rule or order, specify the maximum amount
of constituents identified pursuant to paragraph (1) that may be
found in landfill gas that is to be injected into a common carrier
pipeline. The maximum amount adopted by the office shall not exceed
the equivalent of the no significant risk level set in Section 25705
of Title 27 of the California Code of Regulations for constituents
that are specified in that section.
(3) The office shall provide the commission with the information
required by this subdivision for the commission to implement this
section.
(b) The office shall make findings that are sufficient to ensure
that the standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) do not do
either of the following:
(1) Expose any customer, employee, or other person to landfill gas
if that gas contains any chemical known to the state to cause cancer
or reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable
warning to that individual, except as provided by Section 25249.10.
(2) Expose a natural gas pipeline to an unreasonable risk of harm
to pipeline integrity.
(c) The commission shall develop reasonable and prudent testing
protocols for gas collected from a solid waste landfill that is to be
injected into a common carrier pipeline to determine if the gas
contains any of the constituents that the office has identified
pursuant to subdivision (a) at levels that exceed the standards set
by the office.
(1) Recognizing the potential environmental benefits of landfill
gas that satisfies required standards and specifications, the
commission shall ensure that the protocols it adopts pursuant to this
subdivision provide for efficient testing procedures that
accurately, and, where needed, continuously, identify levels of
constituents in landfill gas that is to be injected into a common
carrier pipeline.
(2) Every person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases gas
collected at a solid waste landfill, that is to be injected into a
common carrier pipeline for sale offsite to a gas corporation or
noncore customer, shall comply with the standards and testing
protocols set by the commission.
(d) (1) A gas producer shall ensure that landfill gas it seeks to
inject into a pipeline satisfies the standards set by the office
pursuant to subdivision (a). A gas corporation shall administer
testing protocols consistent with those standards, and shall not
knowingly accept landfill gas that does not satisfy those standards.
(2) A gas producer shall not knowingly sell, supply, or transport
gas collected from a hazardous waste landfill to a gas corporation. A
gas corporation shall not knowingly purchase gas collected from a
hazardous waste landfill.
(e) This section does not prohibit the onsite usage of landfill
gas for the generation of electricity or any other onsite productive
use by an eligible renewable energy resource, or the delivery of
landfill gas by a dedicated pipeline for the generation of
electricity, the production of steam, or any other productive use or
other industrial applications.
SEC. 2. Section 25421 of the Health and
Safety Code is repealed.
25421. (a) Until the rule or order specified in subdivision (b)
is adopted, no gas producer shall knowingly sell, supply, or
transport landfill gas to a gas corporation, and no gas corporation
shall knowingly purchase landfill gas, if that gas contains vinyl
chloride in a concentration that exceeds the operative no significant
risk level set forth in Article 7 (commencing with Section 12701) of
Chapter 3 of Division 2 of Title 22 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(b) On or before January 1, 1990, the Public Utilities Commission
shall, by rule or order, specify the maximum amount of vinyl chloride
that may be found in landfill gas pursuant to the requirements of
subdivision (a).
(c) No gas corporation shall knowingly and intentionally expose
any customer, employee, or other person to gas from a landfill if
that gas contains any chemical known to the state to cause cancer or
reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable
warning to that individual, except as provided by Section 25249.10.
(d) Every person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases
landfill gas for sale offsite to a gas corporation shall, twice each
month, sample and test the gas at the point of distribution for the
presence of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or
reproductive toxicity in accordance with the test guidelines prepared
under Section 41805.5. The air pollution control district or air
quality management district within which the landfill is situated
shall review the testing procedures for compliance with the
guidelines and require the correction of any deficiencies. The
district shall require, among other things, that the gas be analyzed
by a laboratory certified by the department and shall transmit the
results of the analysis to the department for its determination of
compliance or noncompliance with subdivisions (a) and (b). The
department shall fix and impose upon the gas producer a fee to cover
its costs under this subdivision. The results of each sample and test
shall be reported promptly to the gas corporation to which the
landfill gas is sold, and any person or public agency requesting a
copy of the report.
(e) Nothing in this section prohibits the direct delivery of
landfill gas for the generation of electricity, the production of
steam, or other industrial application.
(f) The gas corporation shall obtain the results of the test
conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) and shall purchase no gas which
the test shows to contain vinyl chloride that exceeds the amount
permitted in subdivision (a), or if the rule or order has been
adopted, as specified in subdivision (b).
(g) This section applies only to landfill gas delivered to the
pipeline of a gas corporation.
SEC. 3. Section 25421 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
25421. (a) On or before May 15, 2013, all of the following shall
be completed:
(1) The office, in consultation with the board, the department,
CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall
compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose risks to
human health and that are found in biogas at concentrations that
significantly exceed the concentrations of those constituents in
natural gas. The office, in consultation with the board, the
department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection
Agency, shall update this list at least every five years.
(2) The office shall determine health protective levels for the
list of constituents of concern identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
In determining those health protective levels, the office shall
consider potential health impacts and risks, including, but not
limited to, health impacts and risks to utility workers and gas end
users. The office shall update these levels at least every five
years.
(3) The board shall identify realistic exposure scenarios and, in
consultation with the office, shall identify the health risks
associated with the exposure scenarios for the constituents of
concern identified by the office pursuant to paragraph (1). The board
shall update the exposure scenarios, and, in consultation with the
office, the health risks associated with the exposure scenarios, at
least every five years.
(4) Upon completion of the responsibilities required pursuant to
paragraphs (1) through (3), the board, in consultation with the
office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental
Protection Agency shall determine the appropriate concentrations of
constituents of concern. In determining those concentrations, the
board shall use the health protective levels identified pursuant to
paragraph (2) and the exposure scenarios identified pursuant to
paragraph (3). The concentrations shall be updated at least every
five years by the board in consultation with the office, the
department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection
Agency.
(5) The board, in consultation with the office, the department,
CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall
identify reasonable and prudent monitoring, testing, reporting, and
recordkeeping requirements, separately for each source of biogas,
that are sufficient to ensure compliance with the health protective
standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (d). The board, in
consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle and the
California Environmental Protection Agency shall update the
monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements at
least every five years.
(b) Actions taken pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not constitute
regulations and shall be exempt from the administrative regulations
and rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Division 2 of Title 2
of the Government Code).
(c) On or before September 15, 2013, for biomethane that is to be
injected into a common carrier pipeline, the commission shall, by
rule or order, adopt standards that specify, for constituents that
may be found in that biomethane, concentrations that are reasonably
necessary to ensure both of the following:
(1) The protection of human health. In making this specification,
the commission shall give due deference to the determinations of the
board pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).
(2) Pipeline and pipeline facility integrity and safety.
(d) To ensure pipeline and pipeline facility integrity and safety,
on or before September 15, 2013, the commission, giving due
deference to the board's determinations, shall, by rule or order,
adopt the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping
requirements identified pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a).
(e) Every five years, or earlier if new information becomes
available, the commission shall review and update the standards for
the protection of human health and pipeline integrity and safety
adopted pursuant to subdivision (c), as well as the monitoring,
testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements adopted pursuant
to subdivision (d).
(f) (1) A person shall not inject biogas into a common carrier
pipeline unless the biogas satisfies both the standards set by the
commission pursuant to subdivision (c), as well as the monitoring,
testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements of subdivision
(d).
(2) The commission shall require gas corporation tariffs to
condition access to common carrier pipelines on the applicable
customer meeting the standards and requirements adopted by the
commission pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d).
(g) (1) A person shall not knowingly sell, supply, or transport,
or knowingly cause to be sold, supplied, or transported, biogas
collected from a hazardous waste landfill to a gas corporation
through a common carrier pipeline.
(2) A gas corporation shall not knowingly purchase gas collected
from a hazardous waste landfill through a common carrier pipeline.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 25326 is
added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
25326. (a) The commission shall hold public hearings to identify
impediments that limit procurement of electricity generated from
biomethane in California, including, but not limited to, impediments
to interconnection. The commission shall offer solutions to those
impediments as part of the integrated energy policy report prepared
pursuant to Section 25302.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "biomethane" means
landfill gas or digester gas, consistent with subdivision (a) of
Section 25741 biogas that meets the
standards adopted pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section
25421 of the Health and Safety Code for injection into a common
carrier pipeline .
SEC. 4. SEC. 5. Section 399.24 is
added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
399.24. (a) To meet the energy and transportation needs of the
state, the commission shall adopt policies and programs that promote
the in-state production and distribution of biomethane. The policies
and programs shall facilitate the development of a variety of sources
of in-state biomethane.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "biomethane" means
landfill gas or digester gas, consistent with subdivision (a) of
Section 25741 of the Public Resources Code
biogas that meets the standards adopted pursuant to subdivisions (c)
and (d) of Section 25421 of the Health and Safety Code for injection
into a common carrier pipeline .
SEC. 5. SEC. 6. Section 769 is added
to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
769. For each gas corporation, the commission shall adopt
pipeline access rules that will ensure nondiscriminatory
open access to each corporation's gas pipeline system to any party
for the purpose of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline
system and effectuating the delivery of gas
ensure that each gas corporation provides nondiscriminatory open
access to its gas pipeline system to any party for the purposes of
physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and
effectuating the delivery of gas .
SEC. 6. SEC. 7. This act shall
become operative only if this act and Assembly Bill 2196 of the
2011-12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on or
before January 1, 2013.
SEC. 7. SEC. 8. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district will be incurred because 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.