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