AB 1937,
as amended, Gordon. Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011: school and hospital notification ofbegin delete maintenance and testingend deletebegin insert excavation constructionend insert of gas pipelines.
Existing federal law requires the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) within the United States Department of Transportation, to adopt minimum safety standards for pipeline transportation and for pipeline facilities, including an interstate gas pipeline facility and intrastate gas pipeline facility, as defined. Existing law authorizes the United States Secretary of Transportation to prescribe or enforce safety standards and practices for an intrastate pipeline facility or intrastate pipeline transportation to the extent that the safety standards and practices are regulated by a state authority that submits to the secretary annually a certification for the facilities and transportation. Existing law authorizes a state authority that has submitted a current 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 the PHMSA.
The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011, within the Public Utilities Act, designates the Public Utilities Commission as the state authority responsible for regulating and enforcing intrastate gas pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities pursuant to federal law, including the development, submission, and administration of a state pipeline safety program certification for natural gas pipelines. The act requires the commission, by July 1, 2012, to open an appropriate proceeding or expand the scope of an existing proceeding to establish compatible emergency response standards that owners or operators of certain commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities would be required to follow. The standards require owners or operators of intrastate transmission and distribution lines to implement emergency response plans that are compatible with PHMSA’s regulations concerning emergency plans.
This bill would require a gas corporation to provide not less than 3 workingbegin delete day’send deletebegin insert daysend insertbegin insert’end insert notice, as specified, to the administration of a school or hospital prior to undertakingbegin delete nonemergency gas pipeline maintenance or testingend deletebegin insert excavation construction of a gas pipelineend insert when the work is located within 500 feet of the school or hospital. The bill would require the gas corporation to maintain a record of the date and time of any
notification provided to the administration of a school or hospital and any subsequent contacts with the administration and actions taken, if any, in response to those subsequent contacts.
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 requirements of this bill are within the act, a violation of these requirements 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 955.5 is added to the Public Utilities
2Code, to read:
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
2have the following meanings:
3(1) “Gas pipeline” means an intrastate distribution line as
4described in paragraph (1) of, or an intrastate transmission line as
5described in paragraph (2) of, Section 950.
6(2) “Hospital” means a licensed general acute care hospital as
7defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety
8Code.
9(3) “School” means a public or private preschool, elementary,
10or secondary school.
11(b) A gas
corporation shall provide not less than three working
12begin delete day’send deletebegin insert daysend insertbegin insert’end insert notice to the administration of a school or hospital
13prior to undertakingbegin delete nonemergency gas pipeline maintenance or begin insert excavation construction of a gas pipelineend insert if the work is
14testingend delete
15located within 500 feet of the school or hospital. The notification
16shall include all of the following:
17(1) The name, address, telephone number, and emergency
18contact
information for the gas corporation.
19(2) The specific location of the gas pipeline where the
20begin delete maintenance or testing workend deletebegin insert constructionend insert will be performed.
21(3) The date and time thebegin delete maintenance or testingend deletebegin insert construction end insert
22 is to be conducted and when the work is expected to be completed.
23(4) An invitation and a telephone number to call for further
24information on what the school or hospital
should do in the event
25of a leak.
26(c) The gas corporation shall maintain a record of the date and
27time of any notification provided to the administration of a school
28or hospital and any subsequent contacts with the administration
29and actions taken, if any, in response to those subsequent contacts.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
31Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
32the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
33district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
34infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
35for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
36the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
37the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
38Constitution.
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