BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1409 Page A Date of Hearing: June 9, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE Steven Bradford, Chair SB 1409 (Hill) - As Amended: June 4, 2014 SENATE VOTE : 36-0 SUBJECT : Public Utilities Commission: safety investigations. SUMMARY : This bill requires descriptions of staff safety investigations to be included in the California Public Utilities Commission's (PUC) annual workplan. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires the PUC to provide a succinct description of each open staff safety investigation and each staff safety investigation concluded within the last year, to include the date of the incident, reason for the investigation, the facility type involved, and the owner of the facility. 2)Requires the PUC to annually submit this information as part of the workplan to the Governor and Legislature no later than February 1 of each year. EXISTING LAW a)Directs the PUC to develop, publish, and update (by no later than February 1 of each year) an annual workplan that includes detailed information on ratemaking proceedings, transactions, and other decisions; proposed and implemented activities to reduce the energy rates and costs for state agriculture and other rural energy consumers; reports on the number of cases where resolutions exceeded the time periods prescribed in scoping memos; and describes the number of days that commissioners presided in hearings (Public Utilities Code 321.6) b)Requires the PUC investigate the cause of all accidents occurring upon the property of any public utility that results in loss of life or injury to person or property, and authorizes the PUC to require public utilities file reports of each accident. (Public Utilities Code 315) c)Requires the PUC to, in an existing or new proceeding, develop and implement an electric safety enforcement program by SB 1409 Page B January 1, 2015 and a gas safety enforcement program by July 1, 2014, which include procedures for monitoring, data tracking and analysis, and investigations, as well as issuance of citations by commission staff. (Public Utilities Code 1702.5) FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Author's statement: "An annual reporting requirement will raise the profile of accident investigations with CPUC management and the public and will be consistent with the CPUC's focus on transparency in safety matters." 2)PUC safety investigations. Safety investigations serve various purposes. They (1) help utilities, PUC staff, and the public learn from accidents and prevent future accidents; (2) serve as a prerequisite for PUC enforcement actions; and (3) guide decisions related to whether claims against utilities are an expense recoverable in future rates. The PUC has issued several orders related to safety investigations. Resolution E-4184 provides for reporting of electric and gas emergencies by utilities and Generating Asset Owners to the PUC via the PUC web site and telephone.<1> It also revised reporting requirements for consistency. Within this resolution, "emergencies" are defined to include incidents, accidents, and electric service interruptions that are attributable or allegedly attributable to utility owned facilities and (a) result in a fatality or personal injury rising to the level of in-patient hospitalization, (b) cause over $50,000 in damage, or (c) become the subject of significant public attention or media coverage. Resolution L-436 aims to provide the public with more immediate access to records of safety inspections, audits, and investigations.<2> These orders direct PUC staff - without requiring a vote of the Commission or an Administrative Law Judge ruling - to disclose PUC reports, summaries, and correspondence regarding completed safety-related inspections, -------------------------- <1> http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/gos/GO95/Otherdocs/E-4184.pdf <2> http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/0258E4D3-B876-494D-A39E-20864 F74A825/0/FinalResL436ReDisclosureofSafetyRelatedRecord.pdf SB 1409 Page C audits, and investigations on an "online safety portal". Even with these rules in place, information surrounding safety investigations is not always available. According to the PUC's 2009 (and regrettably, most recent) Electric, Natural Gas, and Propane Safety Report, the PUC received 82 reports related to natural gas incidents and 93 related to electric incidents in 2009.<3> A typical timetable for investigations is not outlined, thus it is unclear whether incidents occurring in 2009 have been fully investigated. Furthermore, the number of incidents occurring since 2009 is unknown. It is important to note that safety investigations are initially conducted by PUC staff, and if deemed necessary, the commission may open a formal proceeding (an order instituting investigation - OII) to further investigate the incident. OIIs are currently outlined in the PUC's annual workplan, but the open staff safety investigations are not. This bill seeks to require inclusion and descriptions of open PUC staff safety investigations in the annual workplan. 3)PUC rulemaking on safety enforcement. As per SB 291 (Hill, 2013), the PUC has opened a proceeding to implement an electric safety enforcement program by January 1, 2015 and a gas safety enforcement program by July 1, 2014.<4> REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support None on file. Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Brandon Gaytan / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 --------------------------- <3> http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/BDDBF3F2-8BE0-4C70-8D25-7987A CF3E7CD/0/2009USRBANNUALREPORT.pdf <4> http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M091/K638/91 638006.PDF SB 1409 Page D