Amended in Assembly August 29, 2014

Amended in Assembly August 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly August 18, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 18, 2014

Amended in Senate April 21, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1300

Introduced by Senator Hancock

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Skinner)

February 21, 2014

An act to add Sections 7872 and 7873 to the Labor Code, relating to refineries.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1300, as amended, Hancock. Refineries: turnarounds.

Existing law, the California Refinery and Chemical Plant Worker Safety Act of 1990, states that its purpose is to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, flammable, or explosive chemicals. The act provides for the adoption by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board of specified process safety management standards for, among others, refineries that handle acutely hazardous material. The act declares the intent of the Legislature for the standards board and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to promote worker safety through implementation of training and process safety management, as defined, in refineries and other facilities as deemed appropriate. A violation of the act is a crime.

This bill would require every petroleum refinery employer to, every September 15, submit to the division a full schedule for the following calendar year of planned turnarounds, meaning a planned, periodic shutdown of a refinery process unit or plant to perform maintenance, overhaul, and repair operations and to inspect, test, and replace process materials and equipment, as specified. The bill would also require a petroleum refinery employer, upon the request of the division, to provide access onsite and provide the division with specified documentation relating to a planned turnaround within a certain period of time, as provided. The bill would, except as specified, prohibit the division from releasing to the public any information submitted to the division pursuant to these provisions that is designated as a trade secret, as defined. The bill would require the division to notify a petroleum refinery employer in writing of a request for the release of information to the public that includes information that the petroleum refinery employer has notified the division is a trade secret, as provided. The bill would authorize an employer to seek a court order prohibiting public disclosure. The bill establishes misdemeanor penalties for knowingly and willfully disclosing trade secrets.

Because a violation of the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.  

Section 7872 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

7872.  

(a) As used in this section and in Section 7873,
“turnaround” means a planned, periodic shutdown, total or partial,
of a refinery process unit or plant to perform maintenance,
overhaul, and repair operations and to inspect, test, and replace
process materials and equipment. “Turnaround” does not include
unplanned shutdowns that occur due to emergencies or other
unexpected maintenance matters in a process unit or plant.
“Turnaround” also does not include routine maintenance, where
routine maintenance consists of regular, periodic maintenance on
one or more pieces of equipment at a refinery process unit or plant
that may require shutdown of such equipment.

(b) Every September 15, every petroleum refinery employer
shall submit to the division a full schedule of planned turnarounds
for all affected units for the following calendar year.

(c) At the request of the division, at least 60 days prior to the
shutdown of a process unit or plant as part of a planned turnaround,
a petroleum refinery employer shall provide access onsite and
allow the division to review the following documentation for the
process unit or plant scheduled to be shut down for that turnaround:

(1) All corrosion reports and risk-based inspection reports
generated since the last turnaround.

(2) Process hazard analyses generated since the last turnaround.

(3) Boiler permit schedules.

(4) All management of change records related to repairs, design
modifications, and process changes implemented since the last
turnaround or scheduled to be completed in the planned turnaround
referenced in this subdivision and identified in subdivision (b).

(5) Work orders scheduled to be completed in the planned
turnaround referenced in this subdivision and identified in
subdivision (b).

(6) All temporary repairs made since the last turnaround,
including, but not limited to, clamps and encapsulations. As used
in this section, “temporary repairs” means repairs made to piping
systems in order to restore sufficient integrity to continue safe
operation until permanent repairs can be scheduled.

(7) Notification and description of all repairs, design
modifications, or process changes described in a corrosion report,
risk-based inspection report, process hazard analysis, boiler permit
schedule, management of change record, work order, or other
document listed in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, that the
petroleum refinery employer has deferred to a subsequent
operational period or turnaround.

(d) The division may request additional information as necessary
to perform its responsibilities in this part pursuant to Section 6314.

(e) At the request of the division, at least 30 days before the
shutdown of a process unit or plant as part of a planned turnaround,
a petroleum refinery employer shall provide access onsite and
allow the division to review any changes to the information or
documents reviewed by the division pursuant to subdivision (c)
and relevant supporting documents.

(f) At the division’s request, a petroleum refinery employer
shall provide the division with physical copies, or, at the division’s
discretion, electronic copies if available, of the documentation
reviewed by the division pursuant to subdivisions (c), (d), and (e).

(g) By agreement with a petroleum refinery employer, the
division may modify the reporting period as to any individual item
of information.

(h) This section is not intended to limit or increase the division’s
authority in Part 1 (commencing with Section 6300) to prohibit
use of a place of employment, machine, device, apparatus, or
equipment or any part thereof that constitutes an imminent hazard
to employees.

(i) The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose of this
section is to improve the ability of the state to conduct inspections
of petroleum refining operations.

SEC. 2.  

Section 7873 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

7873.  

(a) As used in this section, “trade secret” means a trade
secret as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 6254.7 of the
Government Code or Section 1061 of the Evidence begin delete Code. For the
purposes of Section 6254.7 of the Government end delete Code, begin insert and shall
include end insert the schedule submitted to the division pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 7872 of this code, and the scheduling,
duration, layout, configuration, and type of work to be performed
during a begin delete turnaround that may provide economic value to any person
other than the petroleum refinery employer shall be deemed
information used to fabricate, produce, or compound an article of
trade or a service having commercial value and which gives its
users an opportunity to obtain a business advantage over
competitors who do not know or use it. end delete begin insert turnaround. end insert Upon
completion of a turnaround, the scheduling and duration of that
turnaround shall no longer be considered a trade secret. begin insert The wages,
hours, benefits, job classifications, and training standards for
employees performing work for petroleum refinery employers is
not a trade secret. end insert

(b) (1) If a petroleum refinery employer believes that
information submitted to the division pursuant to Section 7872
may involve the release of a trade secret, the petroleum refinery
employer shall nevertheless provide this information to the
division. The petroleum refinery employer may, at the time of
submission, identify all or a portion of the information submitted
to the division as trade secret and, to the extent feasible, segregate
records designated as trade secret from the other records.

(2) Subject to subdivisions (c), (d), and (e), the division shall
not release to the public any information designated as a trade
secret by the petroleum refinery employer pursuant to paragraph
(1).

(c) (1) Upon the receipt of a request for the release of
information to the public that includes information that the
petroleum refinery employer has notified the division is a trade
secret pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), the division
shall notify the petroleum refinery employer in writing of the
request by certified mail, return receipt requested.

(2) The division shall release the requested information to the
public, unless both of the following occur:

(A) Within 30 days of receipt of the notice of the request for
information, the refinery petroleum employer files an action in an
appropriate court for a declaratory judgment that the information
is subject to protection under subdivision (b) and promptly notifies
the division of that action.

(B) Within 120 days of receipt of the notice of the request for
information, the refinery petroleum employer obtains an order
prohibiting disclosure of the information to the public and promptly
notifies the division of that action.

(3) This subdivision shall not be construed to allow a petroleum
refinery employer to refuse to disclose the information required
pursuant to this section to the division.

(d)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Except as provided in subdivision (c), any information
that has been designated as a trade secret by a petroleum refinery
employer shall not be released to any member of the public, except
that such information may be disclosed to other officers or
employees of the division when relevant in any proceeding of the
division. begin delete If end delete

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert If end insert the person requesting the release of the information or the
petroleum refinery employer files an action to order or prohibit
disclosure of trade secret information, the person instituting the
proceeding shall name the person or the petroleum refinery
employer as a real party in interest. begin delete The end delete

begin insert

(A) The petroleum refinery employer filing an action pursuant
to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) shall provide notice of the
action to the person requesting the release of the information at
the same time that the defendant in the action is served.

end insert begin insert

(B) The person filing an action to compel the release of
information that includes information that the petroleum refinery
employer has notified the division is a trade secret pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) shall provide notice of the action
to the petroleum refinery employer that submitted the information
at the same time that the defendant in the action is served.

end insert

begin insert (3) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert court shall award costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees
to the party that prevails in litigation filed pursuant to this section.
The public agency shall not bear the court costs for any party
named in litigation filed pursuant to this section.

(e) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the exchange
of trade secrets between local, state, or federal public agencies begin insert or
state officials end insert when those trade secrets are relevant and begin insert reasonably end insert
necessary to the exercise of their authority.

(f) An officer or employee of the division who, by virtue of that
employment or official position, has possession of, or has access
to, trade secret information, and who, knowing that disclosure of
the information to the general public is prohibited by this section,
knowingly and willfully discloses the information in any manner
to a person he or she knows is not entitled to receive it, is guilty
of a misdemeanor. A contractor with the division and an employee
of the contractor, who has been furnished information as authorized
by this section, shall be considered an employee of the division
for purposes of this section.

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.