BILL NUMBER: SB 291	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 25, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2013

   An act to add Section 1702.5 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to the Public Utilities Commission.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 291, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: safety
enforcement: gas and electrical corporations.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including gas corporations and
electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act
requires the commission to investigate the cause of all accidents
occurring upon the property of any public utility or directly or
indirectly arising from or connected with its maintenance or
operation, resulting in loss of life or injury to person or property
and requiring, in the judgment of the commission, investigation by
it, and authorizes the commission to make any order or recommendation
with respect to the investigation that it determines to be just and
reasonable. The act additionally 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 electrical and gas corporations. Existing law authorizes
the commission to issue and serve citations in the enforcement of
certain pipeline safety laws applicable to mobilehome park gas
delivery systems and propane operators.
   This bill would require the commission, in an existing or new
proceeding, to develop and implement a safety enforcement program
that includes procedures for monitoring, data tracking and analysis,
and investigations, as well as issuance of citations by commission
staff, under the direction of the  Executive Director
  executive director  of the commission, to gas
corporations and electrical corporations for correction and
punishment of safety violations. The bill would require the
commission to develop and implement an appeals process to govern
issuance and appeal of citations, or resolution of corrective action
orders. The bill would require the commission to implement the safety
enforcement program for gas safety by July 1, 2014, and for
electrical safety by January 1, 2015.
   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.  Section 1702.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:
   1702.5.  (a) The commission shall, in an existing or new
proceeding, develop and implement a safety enforcement program
applicable to gas corporations and electrical corporations 
that are public utilities ,  which includes procedures for
monitoring, data tracking and analysis, and investigations, as well
as issuance of citations by commission staff, under the direction of
the executive director. The enforcement program shall be designed to
improve gas and electrical system safety through the enforcement of
applicable law, or order or rule of the commission related to safety
using a variety of enforcement mechanisms, including the issuance of
corrective actions, orders, and citations by designated commission
staff, and recommendations for action made to the commission by
designated commission staff.
   (1) When  issuing   considering the issuance
of  citations and  assessing   assessment
of  penalties, the commission staff shall take into account
voluntary reporting of potential violations, voluntary removal or
resolution efforts undertaken, the prior history of violations, the
gravity of the violation, and the degree of culpability.
   (2) The procedures shall include, but are not limited to,
providing notice of violation within a reasonable period of time
after the discovery of the violation.
   (3) The commission shall adopt an administrative limit on the
amount of monetary penalty that may be set by commission staff.
   (b) The commission shall develop and implement an appeals process
to govern the issuance and appeal of citations or resolution of
corrective action orders issued by the commission staff. The appeals
process shall provide the respondent a reasonable period of time,
upon receiving a citation, to file a notice of appeal, shall afford
an opportunity for a hearing, and shall require the hearing officer
to expeditiously provide a draft disposition.
   (c) The commission shall, within a reasonable time set by the
commission, conclude a safety enforcement action with a finding of
violation, a corrective action order, a citation, a determination of
no violation, approval of the corrective actions undertaken by the
gas corporation or electrical corporation, or other action. The
commission may institute a formal proceeding regarding the alleged
violation, potentially resulting in additional enforcement action,
regardless of any enforcement action taken at the commission staff
level.
   (d) The commission shall implement the safety enforcement program
for gas safety by July 1, 2014, and  implement  the safety
enforcement program for electrical safety no later than January 1,
2015. 
   (e) This section does not apply to an exempt wholesale generator,
a qualifying small power producer, or qualifying cogenerator, as
defined in Section 796 of Title 16 of the United States Code and the
regulations enacted pursuant thereto. Nothing in this section affects
the commission's authority pursuant to Section 761.3.