Amended in Senate June 16, 2014

Amended in Senate June 9, 2014

Amended in Senate May 28, 2014

Amended in Senate May 6, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 380


Introduced by Assembly Member Dickinson

February 14, 2013


An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 25547) to Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous materials.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 380, as amended, Dickinson. Spill response for railroads.

Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to implement regulations establishing minimum standards for business plans and area plans relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials. Existing law requires the establishment of a statewide environmental reporting system for these plans.

This bill would require a rail carrier, as defined, to report specified information regarding the transportation of hazardous materials, beginning no later than January 31, 2015, to the office on a quarterly basis. The bill would require each rail carrier to maintain a response management communications center, as specified. The bill would require the office to disseminate information necessary for developing emergency response plans from the quarterly reports it receives pursuant to this act to each unified program agency, as defined, when the office determines a unified program agency area of responsibility may be impacted by a hazardous material or oil cargo spill. The bill would require each rail carrier to provide the office with a summary of the rail carrier’s hazardous materials emergency response plan, as specified. The bill would require the office to provide a copy of each summary report of a rail carrier’s hazardous materials emergency response plan to each unified program agency when the office determines a unified program agency area of responsibility may be impacted by a rail carrier spill of hazardous material or oil cargo and that unified program agency has been identified by the rail carrier, in consultation with the office, as able to receive security sensitive information, as specified, on a need-to-know basis. The bill would prohibit a recipient of the reports and hazardous materials emergency response plan from divulging or making known that information to unauthorized recipients, as specified. The bill wouldbegin delete exemptend deletebegin insert deemend insert the reports and hazardous materials emergency response planbegin delete from the California Public Records Actend deletebegin insert to beend insertbegin insert proprietary information and would limit the dissemination of that information to those government personnel with emergency response, planning, or security-related responsibilities on a need-to-know basis, as provided for pursuant to federal law, except as specifiedend insert.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Article 5 (commencing with Section 25547) is
2added to Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety
3Code
, to read:

 

P3    1Article 5.  Spill Prevention and Response for Railroads
2

 

3

25547.  

For purposes of this article, the following terms have
4the following meanings:

5(a) “Hazardous material” means a substance or material that the
6United States Secretary of Transportation has determined to be
7capable of posing an unreasonable risk to the health, safety, and
8property of residents when transported in commerce and has been
9designated as hazardous pursuant to Section 5103 of Title 49 of
10the United States Code. Hazardous material includes hazardous
11substances, as defined in Section 25501, hazardous wastes, marine
12pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated
13as hazardous in Section 172.101 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
14Regulations, and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard
15classes and divisions in Part 173 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal
16Regulations.

17(b) “Office” means the Office of Emergency Services.

18(c) “Oil” has the same meaning as in Section 8670.3 of the
19Government Code.

20(d) “Rail carrier” means a person providing common carrier
21railroad transportation for compensation, but does not include
22street, suburban, or interurban electric railways not operated as
23part of the general system of rail transportation.

24

25547.2.  

(a) No later than January 31, 2015, and every three
25months thereafter, a rail carrier shall submit to the office
26commodity flow data for the prior three months broken down by
27county and track route relevant to the 25 largest hazardous material
28commodities transported through the state, including tank cars
29loaded with oil cargo. The commodity flow data shall conform to
30all of the following:

31(1) Be in accordance with Subpart G of Part 172 of Title 49 of
32the Code of Federal Regulations and in Standard Transportation
33Commodity Code numeric sequence.

34(2) Include a description of the hazardous material or oil cargo
35and commodity name organized by number of carload type,
36including tank cars and gondola cars, intermodal loads, including
37trailers, containers and tank containers, and total loads transported
38within a county over the prior three months.

P4    1(3) Be encrypted and stamped as security sensitive information
2material, as identified pursuant to Section 15.5 of Part 15 of Title
349 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

4(b) The office shall disseminate information necessary for
5developing emergency response plans from the quarterly reports
6prepared pursuant to this section in whole or in summary form to
7a unified program agency, as defined in Section 25501, when the
8office determines a unified program agency area of responsibility
9may be impacted by a hazardous material or oil cargo spill. Rail
10carriers shall provide additional information to the office related
11to the specific commodity flowbegin delete data,end deletebegin insert dataend insert to assist a unified
12program agency with its emergency response planning.

13

25547.4.  

Each rail carrier shall maintain a response
14management communications center, which shall provide real-time
15information to an authorized public safety answering point or 911
16emergency response center about the train consist involved in a
17hazardous material or oil cargo spill or other critical incident,
18including, but not limited to, both of the following:

19(a) Hazardous material movement shipping papers, including
20a way bill or total trace, detailing the hazardous material or oil
21cargo.

22(b) Information that can assist the primary local public safety
23agency in containing and safely removing a hazardous material
24spill.

25

25547.6.  

(a) Each rail carrier shall provide the office with a
26summary of the rail carrier’s hazardous materials emergency
27response plan. The hazardous materials emergency response plan
28shall not be posted on a public Internet Web site or be subject to
29public agency or public review and approval processes.

30(b) The office shall provide a copy of each summary report of
31a rail carrier’s hazardous materials emergency response plan to
32each unified program agency, as defined in Section 25501, when
33the office determines a unified program agency area of
34responsibility may be impacted by a rail carrier spill of hazardous
35material or oil cargo and that unified program agency has been
36identified by the rail carrier, in consultation with the office, as able
37to receive security sensitive information, as identified pursuant to
38Section 15.5 of Part 15 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal
39Regulations, on a need-to-know basis.

P5    1

25547.8.  

(a) A recipient of the reports and plans provided
2pursuant to Sections 25547.2 and 25547.6 shall not divulge or
3make known that information to unauthorized recipients, including,
4but not limited to, individuals or organizations not legally
5authorized to engage in emergency planning and response
6activities.

7(b)  The reports and plans provided pursuant to Sections 25547.2
8and 25547.6 shall bebegin delete exempt from the California Public Records
9Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7
10of Title 1 of the Government Code), except that theend delete
begin insert deemed to beend insert
11begin insert proprietary information and shall be disseminated only to those
12government personnel with emergency response, planning, or
13security-related responsibilities on a need-to-know basis, as
14provided for pursuant to federal law, including, but not limited to,
15Part 15 (commencing with Section 15.1), Part 1520 (commencing
16with Section 1520.1), and Part 172 (commencing with Section
17172.1) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Section
1811904 of Title 49 of the United States Code. However, theend insert
office
19may authorize disclosure if, in the discretion of the office,
20disclosure relevant to a particular shipment is necessary to provide
21for its safe transport through the statebegin insert and is necessary to assist
22with emergency response planningend insert
.

23

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of
24this act, which adds Section 25547.8 to the Health and Safety Code,
25imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings
26of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies
27within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California
28Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the
29Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest
30protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

31In order to provide for the safe transport of hazardous materials
32through the state and to avoid creating a transportation security
33risk, it is in the state’s interest to limit public access to this
34information.



O

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