BILL NUMBER: SB 418	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 8, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 1, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Jackson
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Block)
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Atkins)

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

   An act to add Section 1091.5 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to energy.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 418, as amended, Jackson. Energy: nuclear fission powerplants.
   (1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission, commonly
known as the PUC, has regulatory authority over public utilities,
including electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities
Act prohibits any electrical corporation from beginning the
construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of
any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the PUC a
certificate that the present or future public convenience and
necessity require or will require that construction. A violation of
the act, or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or
requirement of the PUC is a crime.
   Existing federal law requires an operator of a nuclear fission
thermal powerplant to obtain from the federal Nuclear Regulatory
Commission a license for the operation of the powerplant.
   This bill would enact the Nuclear Energy Planning and
Responsibility Act and would require the PUC to require an applicant
electrical corporation applying for ratepayer funding, or reopening
an existing application for ratepayer funding, for the relicensing of
a nuclear fission thermal powerplant with a generation capacity of
50 megawatts or greater by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
to submit a detailed study of the project needs and costs in order
to assess the cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the
nuclear fission thermal powerplant. The bill would require the PUC to
 make the study available on its Internet Web site and to 
 independently  review the study to assess the
cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the nuclear fission
thermal powerplant. Because a violation of this provision is a crime,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   (2) 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 1.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Nuclear Energy Planning and Responsibility Act.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1091.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   1091.5.  (a) Upon application to the commission for ratepayer
funding, or reopening of an existing application for ratepayer
funding, for the relicensing of a nuclear fission thermal powerplant
with a generation capacity of 50 megawatts or greater by the federal
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the commission shall require the
applicant electrical corporation operating the nuclear fission
thermal powerplant to submit a detailed study of the project needs
and costs in order to assess the cost-effectiveness of the continued
operation of the nuclear fission thermal powerplant.
   (b) The study shall include, but is not limited to, all of the
following areas of concern:
   (1) The effect of the nuclear fission thermal powerplant on system
reliability and the affordable supply of electricity, including
planned provisions for emergency operations and unplanned shutdowns
as well as the costs of replacement power.
   (2) The costs attributable to major disruptions in electrical
generation due to aging or major seismic events that may require
repair, replacement, or retrofit in excess of fifty million dollars
($50,000,000) at the nuclear fission thermal powerplant.
   (3) The costs of responding to, or mitigating for, any new federal
requirements that have arisen or are anticipated to become
enforceable during the period of the license extension.
   (4) Potential state and local costs and impacts associated with
current and accumulating high-level radioactive waste and its ongoing
storage at the nuclear fission thermal powerplant.
   (5) Potential state and local costs associated with mitigation or
alternatives to the use of once-through cooling at the nuclear
fission thermal powerplant as required by state or federal law.
   (6) Potential state and local costs associated with expanding and
maintaining emergency planning zones.
   (7) Costs associated with achieving compliance with requirements
for a federal consistency certification granted by the California
Coastal Commission to the electrical corporation, required for the
relicensing of the nuclear fission thermal powerplant by the federal
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
   (c) The commission shall  make the study publicly available on
its Internet Web site and shall  independently review the study
to assess the cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the
nuclear fission thermal powerplant.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.