Amended in Senate August 4, 2014

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 Bill No. 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. begin insert The bill would require a rail carrier to prospectively estimate and submit to the office notification of the weekly movements of trains through a county, as specified. The bill would require a rail carrier to update that notification once every 6 months. The bill also would require a rail carrier to update and notify the office within 30 days of the rail carrier determining that there will be a material change in the estimated volume of Bakken oil, as defined, plus or minus 25% per week relative to the most recent estimate previously submitted to the office. end insert 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 begin delete quarterly end delete 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 begin delete 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 end delete begin insert , as specified end insert . 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. begin delete The bill would deem the reports and hazardous materials emergency response plan to be 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 specified. end delete

begin delete

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.

end delete begin delete

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

end delete

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.  

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

 

Article 5.  Spill Prevention and Response for Railroads

 

25547.  

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

begin insert

(a) “Bakken oil” means petroleum crude oil, Class 3, sourced
from the Bakken shale formation in the Williston Basin.

end insert begin delete

(a)

end delete

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

begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  “Office” means the Office of Emergency Services.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  “Oil” has the same meaning as in Section 8670.3 of the
Government Code.

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  “Rail carrier” means a person providing common carrier
railroad transportation for compensation, but does not include
street, suburban, or interurban electric railways not operated as
part of the general system of rail transportation.

25547.2.  

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

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

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

begin delete

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

end delete begin insert

(b) The office shall provide access to commodity flow data as
authorized by Part 15 (commencing with Section 15.1), Part 1520
(commencing with Section 1520.1), and Part 172 (commencing
with Section 172.1) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations
and Section 11904 of Title 49 of the United States Code.

end insert begin insert

(c) (1) Beginning January 31, 2015, consistent with the United
States Department of Transportation’s Emergency Order Docket
No. DOT-OST-2014-0067, and any subsequent amendments to
that order, a rail carrier shall prospectively estimate and submit
to the office notification of the weekly movements of trains through
a county, including, but not limited to, track route and volumes of
shipments of Bakken oil in amounts equal to or greater than one
million (1,000,000) gallons per train consist. A rail carrier shall
update the notification provided pursuant to this paragraph once
every six months.

end insert begin insert

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a rail carrier shall update
and notify the office within 30 days of the rail carrier determining
that there will be a material change in the estimated volume of
Bakken oil plus or minus 25 percent per week relative to the most
recent estimate previously submitted to the office.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  The office shall disseminate information necessary for
developing emergency response plans from the begin delete quarterly end delete reports
prepared pursuant to begin delete this section end delete begin insert subdivisions (a) and (c) end insert in whole
or in summary form to a unified program agency, as defined in
Section 25501, when the office determines a unified program
agency area of responsibility may be impacted by a hazardous
material or oil cargo spill. Rail carriers shall provide additional
information to the office related to the specific commodity flow
data begin insert and Bakken oil end insert to assist a unified program agency with its
emergency response planning.

25547.4.  

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

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

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

25547.6.  

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

(b) The office shall provide a copy of each summary report of
a rail carrier’s hazardous materials emergency response plan to
each unified program agency, as defined in Section 25501, when
the office determines a unified program agency area of
responsibility may be impacted by a rail carrier spill of hazardous
material or oil begin delete 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 identified pursuant to
Section 15.5 of Part 15 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, on a need-to-know basis. end delete begin insert cargo. The provision of the
summary report of a rail carrier’s hazardous materials emergency
response plan shall comply with Part 15 (commencing with Section
15.1), Part 1520 (commencing with Section 1520.1), and Part 172
(commencing with Section 172.1) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations and Section 11904 of Title 49 of the United States
Code. end insert

25547.8.  

begin delete (a) end delete begin delete   end delete A recipient of the reports and plans provided
pursuant to Sections 25547.2 and 25547.6 shall begin insert comply with Part
15 (commencing with Section 15.1), Part 1520 (commencing with
Section 1520.1), and Part 172 (commencing with Section 172.1)
of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Section 11904
of Title 49 of the United States Code for the purposes of
determining who may have access to the information contained in
the reports and shall end insert not divulge or make known that information
to unauthorized begin delete recipients, including, but not limited to, individuals
or organizations not legally authorized to engage in emergency
planning and response activities. end delete begin insert recipients. Disclosure and
dissemination of information in the reports shall be done solely
for the purpose of providing the safe transport of hazardous
material, crude oil, and Bakken oil through the state and is deemed
necessary to assist with emergency response planning. end insert

begin delete

(b)  The reports and plans provided pursuant to Sections 25547.2
and 25547.6 shall be deemed to be proprietary information and
shall be disseminated only 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,
including, but not limited to, Part 15 (commencing with Section
15.1), Part 1520 (commencing with Section 1520.1), and Part 172
(commencing with Section 172.1) of Title 49 of the Code of
Federal Regulations and Section 11904 of Title 49 of the United
States Code. However, the office may authorize disclosure if, in
the discretion of the office, disclosure relevant to a particular
shipment is necessary to provide for its safe transport through the
state and is necessary to assist with emergency response planning.

end delete

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

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

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

end delete