BILL NUMBER: SB 44 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Corbett
DECEMBER 8, 2010
An act to add Section 769 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 44, as amended, Corbett. Public utilities: gas pipeline
emergency response standards.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities. The Public Utilities Act authorizes
the commission to ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards,
classifications, regulations, practices, measurements, or services to
be furnished, imposed, observed, and followed by specified public
utilities, including gas corporations, as defined.
Existing federal law requires the United States Department of
Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) to adopt minimum safety standards for pipeline
transportation and for pipeline facilities, including an interstate
gas pipeline facility and an intrastate gas pipeline facility, as
defined. Existing federal law prohibits a state authority from
adopting or continuing in force safety standards for interstate
pipeline facilities or interstate pipeline transportation, but
permits a state authority that has submitted a specified
certification to adopt additional or more stringent safety standards
for intrastate pipeline facilities and intrastate pipeline
transportation only if those standards are compatible with the
minimum standards prescribed by PHMSA.
This bill would require the commission, by July 1, 2012, to
commence a process to establish compatible emergency response
standards, as defined, that owners or operators of
commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities, as defined, would be
required to follow. The standards would require owners or operators
of commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities to implement
emergency response plans, with specified requirements, that are
compatible with PHMSA's regulations concerning emergency plans. The
bill would require the commission to report to the Legislature on the
status of establishing the compatible emergency response standards
on or before January 1, 2013.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any
order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the
commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill are within the act and require
action by the commission to implement its requirements, a violation
of 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.
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) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Commission-regulated gas pipeline facility" means an
intrastate gas pipeline facility as defined in Section 60101 of Title
49 of the United States Code, that is subject to the regulatory
authority of the commission, including both of the following
pipelines:
(A) A pipeline that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pursuant to Section 717(b) of
Title 15 of the United States Code because it is used for the local
distribution of natural gas.
(B) A pipeline that the commission, pursuant to Section 717(c) of
Title 15 of the United States Code, has certified to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission as being subject to the regulatory
jurisdiction of the commission over rates and service.
(2) "Compatible emergency response standards" means additional or
more stringent safety standards concerning emergency response for
commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities that are compatible with
the minimum safety standards adopted by the United States Department
of Transportation pursuant to Chapter 601 (commencing with Section
60101) of Subtitle VIII of Title 49 of the United States Code and
that the commission is authorized to adopt pursuant to Section 60104
(c) of that chapter.
(b) On or before July 1, 2012, the commission shall commence a
process to establish compatible emergency response standards that
owners or operators of commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities
shall be required to follow. The commission shall establish the
standards to ensure that commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities
have emergency response plans that adequately prepare them for
any a natural disaster or malfunction
that could cause injury to human life or property, with the purpose
of minimizing the occurrence of both.
(c) The commission shall establish the compatible emergency
response standards in consultation with the Office of Emergency
Services and members of California's first responder community
including, but not limited to, members of the California Fire Chiefs
Association.
(d) The compatible emergency response standards shall require
owners or operators of commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities
to implement emergency response plans that are compatible with the
United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration's regulations concerning emergency
plans contained in Title 49 of Section 192.615 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, and those plans shall include, but not be limited to,
all of the following requirements:
(1) Emergency shutdown and pressure reduction shall be utilized
whenever deemed necessary by first responders or
and appropriate by the owners or operators to minimize
hazards to life or property. An owner or operator
shall notify appropriate first responders of emergency shutdown and
pressure reduction.
(2) During an emergency response effort, the incident commander
may direct coordination between first responders and owners or
operators to ensure timely and ongoing communication on decisions for
emergency shutdown and pressure reduction.
(2)
(3) Owners or operators of commission-regulated gas
pipeline facilities shall establish and maintain liaison with
appropriate fire, police, and other public officials to do all of the
following:
(A) Learn the responsibility and resources of each government
organization that may respond to a gas pipeline emergency,
including, but not limited to, the role of the incident commander in
an emergency.
(B) Acquaint the officials with the owner's or operator's ability
in responding to a gas pipeline emergency.
(C) Identify the types of gas pipeline emergencies of which the
owner or operator notifies the officials.
(D) Plan how the owner or operator and officials can engage in
mutual assistance to minimize hazards to life or property.
(E) Identify and update information on individual personnel
responsible for the liaison with the appropriate first responder
organizations.
(3)
(4) Owners and operators of commission-regulated gas
pipeline facilities shall provide the State Fire Marshal and the
chief fire official of the applicable city, county, city and
county, or fire protection district with geographic information
system maps of the pipeline system within the owner's or operator's
control and shall ensure that those system maps are updated on a
regular basis. The information received by the State Fire
Marshal and the chief fire official shall be maintained in confidence
to protect against security risks.
(e) (1) The commission shall report to the Legislature on the
status of establishing the compatible emergency response standards on
or before January 1, 2013.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 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 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.