BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION Senator Isadore Hall, III Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 22 Hearing Date: 7/14/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Rodriguez | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |5/14/2015 Amended | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Felipe Lopez | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Office of Emergency Services: oil-by-rail spills: firefighters DIGEST: This bill requires, upon a specified appropriation by the Legislature, the Curriculum Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) to review the curriculum and courses of instructions offered to train firefighters in response methods for oil-by-rail spills. The bill also requires the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to compile a list of those curriculum and courses of instruction and make that list available to all fire departments. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Establishes OES within the Office of the Governor and under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services. 2)Provides that OES is responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies. 3)Requires OES 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 AB 22 (Rodriguez) Page 2 of ? those spills. 4)Establishes the Curriculum Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) to provide advice on the development of specified course curricula and response training. This bill: 1)Requires, upon a specified appropriation by the Legislature, 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)Requires OES to compile a list of those curriculum and courses of instructions, make the list available to all fire departments, and facilitate and encourage fire departments to send firefighters for that training. 3)Requires OES to establish a program to reimburse fire departments for costs incurred by those departments in sending firefighters to training. 4)Provides that 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. 5)Makes legislative findings and declarations. Background Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "on July 31, 2014, the Assembly Select Committee on Local Emergency Preparedness convened an informational hearing to collect testimony on how well our local communities and first responders are being trained and equipped to respond to a worst case scenario oil spill by rail and to learn what California can do to help them be prepared. The Committee found that many small and medium sized fire departments do not have the budget funds available to send firefighters for training even if the costs of that training are subsidized or paid for with grants or other assistance." The author argues that "this often occurs because when a firefighter is sent for training, another off duty firefighter AB 22 (Rodriguez) Page 3 of ? must be called in to cover the shift to maintain coverage for services. This requires paying the firefighter his salary during his training and also paying an off duty firefighter to cover the shift." Transportation of Oil by Rail. The transportation of oil by rail in California has dramatically increased in the past several years. In 2012, about 70% of oil imported by California refineries came through marine terminals and only about .3% arrived by rail. The following year, crude oil imports by rail jumped approximately 500% or about 1% of total imports. Many experts, including the California Energy Commission estimates that oil-by-rail imports might increase to 25% of total imports by 2016. This trend in California has been similar to oil-by-rail shipments nationally, especially in response to increases in production of oil from Bakken shale formation. Bakken Oil is high-quality, light, sweet crude, making it more valuable and economically competitive that some of the other domestic crude oils. 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. Because crude oil trains travel through some of the state's most densely populated areas, as well as some of the most sensitive ecological areas, oil-by-rail spills are particularly dangerous. While transporting oil-by-rail costs about twice as much as transportation by pipeline, oil-by-rail is faster and offers greater flexibility. This flexibility allows companies to take advantage of price differentials across the United States. 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 the 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. AB 22 (Rodriguez) Page 4 of ? Various state agencies engage in prevention, planning, emergency response, and cleanup activities applicable to oil-by-rail, including OES, the State Fire Marshal (SFM), 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. Accidents and Risks of Oil by Rail Transport. As oil by rail transport has increased in recent years, there has also been a dramatic increase in the number of accidents that involve crude by rail. According to a June 10, 2014 report by the California Interagency Rail Safety Working Group, more crude oil by volume was spilled in rail incidents in 2013 than was spilled in the nearly four decades prior. In addition, according to the report, incidents involving oil by rail in California increased from 3 in 2011 to 25 in 2013. Most reported incidents involved a relatively small volume of oil released, but the potential for high-consequences incidents will increase as more oil is transported by rail. For example, the largest and most tragic accident occurred on July 2013 in Lac-Megantic, Quebec where 63 tanks of crude oil exploded killing 47 people. In 2013 and 2014 there were eight major accidents in North America. The causes of these accidents vary, but they have included track failures, inadequate rail car equipment, and human error. Oil-by-Rail Routes in California. In California, trains transporting crude oil are expected to travel via the Feather River or Donner Pass to the Bay Area, the Tehachapi Pass to Bakersfield, or into Los Angeles. Thus, they will travel through some of California's most densely populated areas, as well as some of the most sensitive ecological eco systems. Prior/Related Legislation AB 380 (Dickinson, Chapter 533, Statutes of 2014) required rail carriers to submit specified information regarding the transport of hazardous materials and Bakken oil to OES for the purposes of emergency response planning. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No AB 22 (Rodriguez) Page 5 of ? SUPPORT: California State Firefighter's Association City of Burbank City of Indian Wells City of Long Beach City of Sacramento City of Santa Barbara City of Thousand Oaks Greater Merced Chamber of Commerce League of California Cities OPPOSITION: None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the City of Long Beach, "existing law provides rail-transported oil spill response training at the expense of fire departments. AB 22 sensibly establishes guidelines that reduce disparities in training and equipment for oil-by-rail spills among fire departments. Providing fire departments with the necessary resources not only improves response methods, but lessens the impact of oil-by-rail accidents in some of the state's most densely populated areas."