BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 22
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Adam Gray, Chair
AB 22
(Rodriguez) - As Introduced December 1, 2014
SUBJECT: Office of Emergency Services: oil-by-rail spills:
firefighters
SUMMARY: Would require the Curriculum Development Advisory
Committee (CDAC) within the California Governor's Office of
Emergency Services (Cal OES) to review the curriculum and
courses of instruction offered by public and private programs
that train firefighters in response methods for oil-by-rail
spills. The bill requires the office to compile a list of those
curriculum and courses of instruction and make that list
available to all fire departments; and establish a program to
reimburse fire departments for costs incurred by sending
firefighters to trainings. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the CDAC to review the curriculum and courses of
instruction offered by public and private programs that train
firefighters in response methods for oil-by-rail spills.
2) Provides the Cal OES shall compile a list of the curriculum
and courses of instruction, as specified. The list shall be
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available to all fire departments, including in that list
information regarding the availability and cost of the
curriculum and courses of instruction, and shall facilitate and
encourage fire departments to send firefighters for that
training.
3) States Cal OES shall establish a program to reimburse fire
departments for costs incurred for sending firefighters to
trainings identified by the CDAC and Cal OES, upon application
by the fire department for reimbursement. Volunteer fire
departments may also receive a per diem of one hundred dollars
($100) per volunteer firefighter, upon application, to be paid
to a volunteer firefighter who attends such training.
4) Provides Cal OES shall use funds received from grants or
general funds appropriated to the agency by the Legislature for
this program.
5) Makes legislative findings and declarations.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Establishes Cal OES within the office of the Governor and
under the supervision of the Director of Cal OES and makes the
office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster
response services for natural, technological, or manmade
disasters and emergencies.
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2) Requires the office to serve as the central point of state
government for the emergency reporting of spills, unauthorized
releases, or other accidental releases of hazardous materials
and to coordinate the notification of the appropriate state and
local administering agencies that may be required to respond to
those spills, unauthorized releases, or other accidental
releases.
3) Establishes the CDAC to, among other things, provide advice
on the development of specified course curricula and response
training. (Government Code § 8588.10)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Background : According to the author's office, fracking and
other developing oil extraction technologies employed in Canada
and the United States have significantly increased oil
production. This source of new oil has created a problem in the
transportation and delivery of crude oil. There is not enough
pipeline capacity in North America to transport the increased
volumes to refineries and distribution points. As a result,
rail is becoming the primary way to move inland crude oil and
hydrocarbon gas liquids to the West Coast. California, like the
rest of the nation, is experiencing dramatic changes in the
amount of oil being transported by rail.
According to the author, as oil-by-rail shipments have
dramatically increased in recent years, there has been a
resulting increase in the number of incidents involving crude
oil spills by rail.
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The author's office points out that the danger from a major oil
spill is exacerbated by the type of oil that is being spilled.
Oil from the Bakken Shale Formation is high quality, light,
sweet crude. It is precisely because this crude oil is so energy
dense that it is both valuable and hazardous. Its light nature
and high density, under the right circumstances, makes it
volatile, highly flammable, and toxic. In addition, crude oil
trains travel through some of the state's most densely populated
areas, as well as some of the most sensitive ecological areas,
since rail lines frequently operate near or over rivers and
other sensitive waterways in the state.
Federal law governs most major aspects of rail transport, and
preempts most state regulation. The principal agency responsible
for promulgating and enforcing the safety of rail shipments of
crude oil is Department of Transportation (DOT), and
specifically within DOT: the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA).
At the state level, the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) shares authority with the federal government to enforce
federal rail safety requirements, and also has authority to
enforce state safety rules. The CPUC is also a participant in
federal rulemaking efforts, including through the FRA's Railroad
Safety Advisory Committee.
Various state agencies engage in prevention, planning, emergency
response, and cleanup activities applicable to oil by rail,
including Cal OES, the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM),
California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), and the
Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). These state
agencies are all beginning to prepare for the heightened risks
posed by oil-by-rail. Local agencies, including the local
Certified Unified Program Agencies, also play critical roles in
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emergency preparedness and response, and have expressed growing
concern about increased oil-by-rail transport.
In June 2014, the CPUC and the Interagency Rail Safety Working
Group (IRSWG) issued a report intended to help prepare state and
local emergency responders for the dramatic increase in
shipments of oil-by-rail in California communities by outlining
recommendations to improve public safety during transport. The
findings and recommendations of the IRSWG stated, "While the
federal actions taken to date are significant, they do not go
far enough to address the risks of increased oil by rail
transport. The state should press both the federal government
and the railroad industry to take additional safety measures.
Additionally, the state should strengthen its inspection and
enforcement resources, remedy significant gaps in its emergency
preparedness and response programs, and provide the public with
an interactive map showing potential high-risk areas from
oil-by-rail traffic."
Pertaining to this bill, under the heading "Increase Emergency
Response Training," the report stated, "California firefighters
and first responders lack training in the specialized areas of
oil rail safety and flammable liquid, as well as financial
resources to attend out of state trainings. To maximize state
training capabilities, the state has begun planning for a
multi-agency West Coast Regional Training Center in Sacramento.
OES and OSFM should seek partnerships with railroads and oil
companies to help fund establishment of this center."
Purpose of the bill : According to the author, there are wide
disparities in training and equipment for oil-by-rail spills in
the following instances: between volunteer and non-volunteer
fire departments; between rural and urban fire departments; and
between small and large fire departments. Large, urban fire
departments tend to receive more training and are better
equipped than smaller rural fire departments. Volunteer fire
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departments have almost no independent ability to respond to
large-scale oil-by-rail spills, relying instead upon regional
mutual aid or upon railroad personnel and assets.
The author states many small and some medium-sized fire
departments do not have the budget to send firefighters for
training even if the costs of that training are subsidized or
paid for with grants or other assistance. When a firefighter is
sent for training, another off-duty firefighter must be called
in to cover the shift and maintain coverage for services. This
requires paying the firefighter his or her salary during his or
her training and also paying an off-duty firefighter to cover
the shift. Railroads provide free training for local first
responders in California in localities that are convenient to
the fire departments, yet volunteer and small rural fire
departments frequently do not attend or participate in such
training classes.
This bill will establish a program to reimburse local fire
departments for expenses incurred by sending personnel to
oil-by-rail accident response training programs. The author
states that by providing proper training, information and
resources, local emergency response agencies will be more
prepared to play a major role in mitigating the effects of such
an accident.
The author concludes, local emergency crews are the first ones
on scene during the critical moments following an accident and
they need to be properly prepared to respond. AB 22 will allow
local fire departments, many of whom have limited budgets, to
receive life-saving training that may have otherwise been
inaccessible due to cost.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 22
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Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531