BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 361 Hearing Date: 7/7/2015
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|Author: |Achadjian |
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|Version: |5/28/2015 As Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Jay Dickenson |
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SUBJECT: California Emergency Services Act: nuclear powerplants
DIGEST: This bill extends the sunset date on statute
requiring a utility that operates a nuclear powerplant to fund
state and local emergency response.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines the roles and responsibilities of state and local
agencies in preparing for and responding to accidents at
nuclear powerplants. (Health and Safety Code §§114650 -
114685)
2)Requires a utility operating a nuclear powerplant to cover
state and local costs, not reimbursed by federal funds, to
prepare for and respond to accidents at nuclear powerplants.
3)Provides a method by which the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) is to assess the reasonable share for such
an activity and directs the Office of Emergency Services to
periodically notify a utility of those costs.
4)Requires such a utility to pay the assessed amount, to be paid
by utility customers, to the Controller for deposit in the
Nuclear Planning Assessment Special Account, the funds of
which, upon appropriation, cover state and local costs, up to
specified caps, to prepare for and respond to accidents at
nuclear power plants.
AB 361 (Achadjian) Page 2 of ?
5)Sunsets these provisions on July 1, 2019. (Government Code
§8610.5)
This bill:
1)Extends the sunset date to August 26, 2025.
2)Revises language specifying cost caps to refer to only the
Diablo Canyon nuclear facility, the state's lone operating
nuclear powerplant.
Background
Current state law requires a utility that operates a nuclear
power plant periodically to pay an amount, determined by the
CPUC, into the Nuclear Special Assessment Account. Funds in the
account are to cover the state and local costs to prepare for
and respond to accidents at nuclear powerplants. The statute
requiring such utilities to pay into the fund sunsets on July 1,
2019.
There remains one operating nuclear powerplant in California -
Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
The power production facility and support operations sit on
approximately 900 acres adjacent to the Pacific Ocean between
Avila Beach and Montano del Oro State Park. According to PG&E,
the plant produces approximately 10 percent of California's
energy load and about 20 percent of PG&E's overall electricity
production. The powerplant is licensed by the federal Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) to operate until 2024 and 2025,
respectively, for units 1 and 2. In 2009, PG&E filed an
application with NRC to extend Diablo Canyon's operation by 20
years. This bill seeks to align the statutory requirement that
PG&E fund state and local emergency response to an accident at a
nuclear powerplant with the existing operating license for
PG&E's nuclear facility.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 292 (Blakeslee, Chapter 492, Statutes of 2007) extended the
sunset date, from July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2019, on the
requirement that a utility that operates a nuclear powerplant
fund state and local emergency response.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
AB 361 (Achadjian) Page 3 of ?
Com.: Yes Local: No
PRIOR VOTES:
Senate Governmental Organization Committee (12-0)
Assembly Floor (75-0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (17-0)
Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee (15-0)
Assembly Governmental Organization Committee (20-0)
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
Sierra Club - Santa Lucia Chapter
8 individuals
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the sponsor, the state
should require a utility that operates a nuclear powerplant to
fund state and local emergency response to a nuclear accident at
least as long as the powerplant continues to operate.
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