BILL ANALYSIS Ó 1 SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE ALEX PADILLA, CHAIR AB 1937 - Gordon Hearing Date: June 23, 2014 A As Amended: June 11, 2014 FISCAL B 1 9 3 7 DESCRIPTION Current law requires that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and each gas corporation place safety of the public and gas corporation employees as the top priority and take all reasonable and appropriate actions to carry out this policy priority. (Public Utilities Code § 963) Current law requires each gas corporation to develop, adopt, and implement a plan for the safe and reliable operation of its gas pipeline facilities that is consistent with best practices in the gas industry and that provides for the following: Preventive and reactive maintenance and repair; Effective patrol and inspection to detect leaks and effect timely repairs; Timely response to customer and employee reports of leaks; and Adequately sized, qualified, and properly trained workforce to carry out the plan. (Public Utilities Code § 961) This bill requires a gas corporation to provide not less than three working day's notice to the administration of a school or hospital prior to undertaking nonemergency gas pipeline maintenance, testing or construction if the work is located within 500 feet of the school or hospital and to maintain the notices for at least five years. Current law requires any person (excavator) planning to conduct any excavation work to contact a regional notification center ("call before you dig") at least two working days before the work is planned. The call triggers notification to utilities (operators) that serve the area who are required to locate and field mark the approximate location and, if known, the number of subsurface installations that may be affected by the excavation within 48 hours. (Government Code § 4216 et seq.) This bill restates the requirements of an excavator or operator to comply with the call before you dig program requirements. BACKGROUND Natural Gas Regulation - The CPUC has responsibility to ensure compliance with federal pipeline management standards for over 108,000 miles of transmission and distribution pipeline in the state of California most of which is owned and operated by two gas corporations. Toward this end, the CPUC reviews utility reports and records, responds to inquiries and complaints from the public on issues regarding gas pipeline and electric safety, and also investigates accidents. The safety of gas pipelines was elevated after the September, 2010 explosion of a natural gas transmission line in a residential neighborhood in the City of San Bruno. The rupture caused an explosion and fire which took the lives of eight people and injured dozens more; destroyed 37 homes and damaged dozens more. Call Before You Dig - To protect people who live and work near buried pipes and cables, and to save the costs associated with damage to underground infrastructure, state law include a sequential system to aid excavators in locating subsurface installations. Entities that own, operate, or maintain subsurface installations must join a non-profit regional notification center (RNC) to provide advance warning of under-ground installations close to proposed excavation projects. Except in an emergency, anyone planning to dig in an area with underground installations must notify the appropriate RNC at least two days before breaking ground. The potentially affected underground installation operators must locate and field mark the approximate location of their installations. Excavators must then determine the exact location of the subsurface installations by using hand tools, with limited exceptions, to excavate within the field markings. Despite state laws governing underground excavations, many excavators fail to RNCs before they dig or improperly excavate around marked underground facilities. Excavation accidents can damage vital infrastructure, disrupt utility services, harm the environment, impose substantial costs on underground facility operators, and sometimes cause injuries or deaths. COMMENTS 1. Author's Purpose . Currently, there is nothing in statute or in CPUC regulation that requires the public noticing of schools or hospitals in California when there is planned gas pipeline construction/excavation/maintenance or testing in the direct vicinity of schools or hospitals. An increasing number of significant natural gas pipeline accidents in California have received attention throughout the country over the past several years. The most visible of those took place in San Bruno in late 2010, and additional natural gas accidents in Cupertino and Roseville at the end of 2011 also highlight exactly how pervasive our problems really are. There are numerous locations throughout California where a gas pipeline exists on or adjacent to school and hospital property. There have been an increasing number of instances where schools are being evacuated due to gas pipelines being struck when maintenance or excavations are being performed, and these circumstances have resulted in the public's safety being put at risk. As such, there are currently no public noticing requirements to schools (or hospitals) in statute or CPUC regulations, regarding noticing when maintenance or pipeline testing is being performed, and AB 1937 will be a tool to improve the safety of the public. Undoubtedly, it is in the public's best interest to ensure that public gathering places, such as schools and hospitals, are given ample notice of a gas company's pipeline excavation/construction or testing, especially when the work is located in the direct vicinity of some of California's most precious, and potentially vulnerable, human resources. 2. Disaster Planning . Proponents opine that this bill will aid their efforts in disaster planning. However, the two recent incidents of gas leaks at school sites which forced evacuations would not have been affected by this bill. Those leaks were the result of construction crews which "dug-in" to gas pipelines and forced emergency response and repairs by the local gas corporations. 3. Cross-Reference . This bill restates an existing obligation in the Government Code for all individuals, contractors or businesses to "call before you dig" to trigger the marking of all underground lines, pipes and cables by operators of that infrastructure. The cross-reference is not necessary. Gas corporations are fully aware of their responsibility to "call before you dig." The CPUC has attempted in the past to expand their jurisdiction to include enforcement call requirements on contractors and others not currently regulated by the CPUC. There is concern that this cross-reference could be interpreted as authorizing that work. To prevent confusion, the author and committee may wish to consider striking this reference at page 4, lines 15 through 21. ASSEMBLY VOTES Assembly Floor (73-0) Assembly Appropriations Committee (17-0) Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee (12-0) POSITIONS Sponsor: Author Support: California Hospital Association Office of Ratepayer Advocates Oppose: None on file Kellie Smith AB 1937 Analysis Hearing Date: June 23, 2014