BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 291
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 291 (Hill)
As Amended September 6, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 12-0
APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Patterson, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Buchanan, Ch�vez, Fong, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Beth Gaines, Garcia, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, Quirk, | |Gomez, Hall, Holden, |
| |Rendon, Skinner, Brown | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) to develop and implement a safety enforcement program for
gas and electrical corporations by July 1, 2014, and January 1,
2015, respectively. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires PUC to develop procedures for commission staff to
issue corrective actions, orders and citations under the
direction of the Executive Director. PUC may institute a
formal proceeding regardless of any enforcement action taken
by commission staff.
2)Requires PUC to design the enforcement program to improve gas
and electrical system safety through the enforcement of
applicable law, order or rule.
3)Requires the commission staff to consider the nature of the
violation, voluntary removal or resolution efforts, and prior
history of violations when issuing citations and assessing
penalties.
4)Requires the procedures to include a notification of a
violation, a reasonable period not to exceed 30 days to
correct the violation. A hearing may be requested by the
party receiving the citation.
SB 291
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5)Requires PUC to develop an administrative limit on the amount
of any monetary penalty that may be set by commission staff.
6)Requires PUC to develop and implement an appeals process
regarding issuances and appeals of citations.
7)Specifies that the provisions in this bill do not apply to
independent generators.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, on-going costs of between $150,000 and $200,000
annually from the Utilities Reimbursement Account to manage
citations and appeals including hearings before an
administrative law judge.
According to PUC, there will also be an unknown one-time
collection from ratepayers for the development of a database to
track, manage and dispense with future citations. However, this
bill does not specifically require PUC to develop a database,
which likely will be necessary to address existing requirements
not associated with the bill.
COMMENTS : According to the author, after the San Bruno
explosion, PUC began implementing recommendations for gas
safety. However, there has been no such activity for
electricity safety even though between 2008 and 2011, there have
been an average of 11 fatalities per year on electrical
facilities under PUC's jurisdiction.
Traditional enforcement mechanisms may take over a year and are
usually performed in reaction to accidents involving multiple
fatalities or extensive property damage. Smaller violations may
indicate serious problems and should be addressed in an
expedited manner.
PUC currently has delegated authority to staff for violations of
gas safety, rail safety, water and sewer public health, electric
resource adequacy, Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) filing
requirements and others.
This bill will codify the delegated enforcement authority for
gas safety and will provide delegated enforcement authority for
electric safety.
SB 291
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Analysis Prepared by : Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0002559