BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Isadore Hall, III
Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 361 Hearing Date: 6/29/2015
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|Author: |Achadjian |
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|Version: |5/28/2015 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Felipe Lopez |
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SUBJECT: California Emergency Services Act: nuclear powerplants
DIGEST: This bill extends the sunset date for the Nuclear
Planning Assessment Special Account (NPASA) from July 1, 2019,
to August 26, 2025, to continue funding emergency service
programs and planning activities for the Diablo Canyon Power
Plant in San Luis Obispo County.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes, under the California Emergency Services Act
(CESA), local government entities to create disaster councils
by ordinance and in turn develop disaster plans specific to
their jurisdictions.
2)Requires, under the Radiation Protection Act of 1999 (RPA),
local governments to develop and maintain radiological
emergency preparedness and response plans to safeguard the
public in the emergency planning zone around a nuclear
powerplant, and generally makes the Office of Emergency
Services (OES) responsible for the coordination and
integration of all emergency planning programs and response
plans created pursuant to the RPA.
3)Requires OES to coordinate the activities of all state
agencies in preparing and implementing the state nuclear power
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plant emergency response plan and to perform other related
duties.
4)Prescribes, under CESA, a method for funding state and local
costs for carrying out these activities that are not
reimbursed by federal funds, with the costs borne by utilities
operating nuclear powerplants with a generating capacity of 50
megawatts or more.
5)Defines an "electrical corporation" as every corporation or
person owning, controlling, operating, or managing any
electrical plant for compensation within this state, except
where electricity is generated on or distributed by the
producer through private property solely for its own use or
the use of its tenants and not for sale or transmission to
others.
6)Grants the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with the
regulatory authority over public utilities.
7)Requires the development and maintenance of a nuclear
powerplant emergency response program by state and local
governments based on federal and state criteria.
This bill:
1)Extends the sunset date for the NPASA from July 1, 2019, to
August 26, 2025, to continue funding emergency service
programs and planning activities for the Diablo Canyon Power
Plant in San Luis Obispo County.
2)Provides that State and local costs to carry out activities
pursuant to this bill and the RPA that are not reimbursed by
federal funds shall be borne by a utility operating a nuclear
powerplant with a generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more.
3)Requires the PUC to develop and transmit to OES an equitable
method of assessing a utility operating a powerplant for its
reasonable share of state agency costs.
4)Specifies that each local government involved shall submit a
statement of its costs, as required, to OES.
5)Specifies that upon notification by OES, from time to time, of
the amount of its share of the actual or anticipated state and
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local agency costs, a utility shall pay this amount to the
State Controller for deposit in the NPASA, which is continued
in existence, for allocation by the State Controller, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to carry out activities
pursuant to this bill and the RPA.
6)Specifies that the State Controller shall pay from the NPASA
the state and local costs relative to carrying out the
provisions of the bill and the RPA.
7)Specifies that upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
State Controller may disburse up to 80 percent of a fiscal
year allocation from the NPASA, in advance, for anticipated
local expenses. The OES shall review program expenditures
related to the balance of the funds in the account and the
Controller shall pay the portion, or the entire balance, of
the account, based upon those approved expenditures.
8)Specifies that the total annual disbursement of state costs
from a utility operating a nuclear powerplant within the state
for activities pursuant to this bill and RPA, shall not exceed
the lesser of the actual costs or the maximum funding levels
established under the provisions of this bill.
9)Specifies that of the annual amount of two million forty-seven
thousand dollars ($2,047,000) for the 2009-10 fiscal year, the
sum of one million ninety-four thousand dollars ($1,094,000)
shall be for support of OES for activities pursuant to this
bill and the RPA, and the sum of nine hundred fifty-three
thousand dollars ($953,000) shall be for support of the State
Department of Public Health for activities pursuant to this
bill and the RPA.
10) Specifies that the total annual disbursement for each
fiscal year, commencing July 1, 2009, of local costs from a
utility shall not exceed the lesser of the actual costs or
the maximum funding levels established in this bill, in
support of activities pursuant to this bill and the RPA.
The maximum annual amount available for disbursement for
local costs shall, for the fiscal year beginning July 1,
2009, be one million seven hundred thirty-two thousand
dollars ($1,732,000) for the Diablo Canyon site.
11) Specifies that the amounts paid by a utility under this
bill shall be allowed for ratemaking purposes by the PUC.
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12) Provides that the amounts available for disbursement for
state and local costs shall be adjusted and compounded each
fiscal year by the larger of the percentage change in the
prevailing wage for San Luis Obispo County employees, not to
exceed 5 percent, or the percentage increase in the
California Consumer Price Index from the previous fiscal
year.
13) Specified that the amounts available for disbursement for
state and local costs as specified shall be cumulative
biennially. Any unexpected funds from a year shall be
carried over for one year. The funds carried over from the
previous year may be expended when the current year's
funding cap is exceeded.
14) Provides that when this bill becomes inoperative, any
amounts remaining in the special account shall be refunded
to a utility contributing to it, to be credited to the
utility's ratepayers.
Background
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, the Diablo Canyon
power plant pays into the NPASA under the OES. They are
currently scheduled to stop paying into the account on July 1,
2019, which is before their current license expires on August
26, 2025. Therefore, the author argues, "the nuclear power
plant could still be in operation without having to contribute
to the costs of emergency planning or response should an
emergency occur."
The author further argues that, "if the plant were to continue
in operation without funding, then emergency preparedness and
response will be jeopardized. Continuing this account is vital
to assure the maintenance of the State's nuclear emergency
programs, which has been a model program established to
safeguard public health and safety in California."
Nuclear Power Plant Regulation. In 1979, following the accident
at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the
California State Legislature mandated that OES, together with
the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and affected
counties, investigate the consequences of a serious nuclear
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power plant accident. Based on site-specific studies in 1980,
Emergency Planning Zones (EPZ) around the plant sites were
established in detail and integrated plans were developed.
Legislation mandating the Nuclear Power Plant Program (NPPA) has
been continuous since 1979, enacted as Government Code and
Health and Safety Code sections, called the Radiation Protection
Act.
Local governments are also required to develop and maintain
radiological emergency preparedness and response plans to
safeguard the public in the EPZ around a nuclear power plant and
to take specified actions within that zone. Utilities also have
a role to play, including developing and maintaining
radiological emergency preparedness and response plans in
coordination with state and local governments and to coordinate
with state and local governments in maintaining nuclear power
plant education information.
Emergency Response and Recovery. In the event of an emergency
at one of California's nuclear power plants, OES is the lead
agency to mobilize state resources and to request and coordinate
federal resources to mitigate the effects of radiation released
into the atmosphere. The CDPH would be responsible for
providing radiological assessments during all phases of such
emergencies and will be the technical lead during "ingestion
pathway" and "recovery" phases of an emergency.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 292 (Blakeslee, Chapter 492, Statutes of 2007) extended the
sunset date on the NPASA from July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2019 and
the repeals date from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2020. The
bill also revised the funding levels payable from the account
beginning fiscal year 2009-10 and required that any money
remaining in the account when it becomes inoperative be returned
to the contributing utility for rebates to the ratepayers.
SB 2141 (O'Connell, Chapter 543, Statutes of 1998) specified
that OES shall continue to have prime responsibility for
coordinating and integrating all levels of emergency planning
and response within a "joint" state and local government
decision-making process. The bill also modified the method for
providing funding to those state agencies responsible with
implementing various aspects of the NPASA.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT:
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility (Source)
County of San Luis Obispo
County of Santa Barbara
Mothers for Peace
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace Action
Sierra Club, Santa Lucia Chapter
7 individuals
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Alliance for Nuclear
Responsibility (A4NR), this bill "will ensure the current
structure for maintaining and funding the San Luis Obispo
County's Office of Emergency Services (SLO OES) through all of
2014. Prior to this bill being introduced, the funding
mechanism for SLO OES, which provides the vital role of
protecting the county and state in the event of an incident at
the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, would have been allowed
to 'sunset' five years before the plant's current operating
license expires. Since the SLO OES' budget is 90% dependent on
its funding because of the presence of Diablo Canyon, the
shortfall would have left the county with inadequate resources
to serve this vital role." The A4NR further argues that, "One
of the tragic lessons from the Fukushima disaster highlighted
the need for of a well prepared and coordinated emergency
response effort. While we all hope such an incident will never
occur on our beloved central coast, this legislation will make
sure our local first responders are fully funded and prepared
for any eventuality."
DUAL REFERRAL: Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications
Committee
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