BILL NUMBER: AB 815	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  108
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 15, 2015
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 15, 2015
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 2, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ridley-Thomas

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to amend Section 8670.40 of the Government Code, and to
amend Section 46101 of, to add Section 46008 to, and to repeal
Section 46018 of, the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to oil
spills.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 815, Ridley-Thomas. Oil spill prevention and response fees:
collection.
   (1) The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response
Act generally requires the administrator for oil spill response,
acting at the direction of the Governor, to implement activities
relating to oil spill response, including emergency drills and
preparedness, and oil spill containment and cleanup, and to represent
the state in any coordinated response efforts with the federal
government.
   The act imposes an oil spill prevention and administration fee in
an amount determined by the administrator to be sufficient to
implement oil spill prevention activities, but not to exceed $0.065
per barrel of crude oil or petroleum products, and to be remitted to
the State Board of Equalization. The act requires the oil spill
prevention and administration fee to be imposed upon a person owning
crude oil or petroleum products at the time that the crude oil or
petroleum products are received at a marine terminal or refinery by
specified modes of delivery from within or outside the state, as
specified. The act prohibits the fee from being collected by a marine
terminal operator or refinery operator or imposed on the owner of
crude oil or petroleum products if the fee has been previously
collected or paid on the crude oil or petroleum products at another
marine terminal or refinery and, in that case, requires a marine
terminal operator, refinery operator, or owner of crude oil or
petroleum products to demonstrate that the fee has already been paid.

   This bill instead would authorize a marine terminal operator or a
refinery operator receiving petroleum products derived from crude oil
refined in the state to presume the fee has been previously
collected. The bill would also no longer require the owner of the
crude oil or petroleum products to remit the fee to the board. The
bill would make conforming changes.
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the board
collect the oil spill prevention and administration fee only upon
first delivery to a refinery or marine terminal and not upon the
subsequent movement of that same crude oil or petroleum products
following that first delivery.
   (2) Existing law requires every person who operates a refinery in
this state, a marine terminal in waters of the state, or a pipeline
to transport crude oil or petroleum products out of the state to
register with the board. Existing law defines, for the purposes of
the board's administration of those provisions, certain terms,
including, among others, oil.
   This bill instead would require every person who operates a
refinery in this state, a marine terminal in waters of the state, or
a pipeline to transport crude oil out of the state or petroleum
products into the state to register with the board for the purposes
of the oil spill prevention and administration fee and the uniform
oil spill response fee, as applicable. The bill would delete the
definition of oil, and would define barrel to mean 42 gallons of
crude oil or petroleum products for these purposes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 8670.40 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   8670.40.  (a) The State Board of Equalization shall collect a fee
in an amount determined by the administrator to be sufficient to pay
the reasonable regulatory costs to carry out the purposes set forth
in subdivision (e), and a reasonable reserve for contingencies. The
annual assessment shall not exceed six and one-half cents ($0.065)
per barrel of crude oil or petroleum products. The oil spill
prevention and administration fee shall be based on each barrel of
crude oil or petroleum products, as described in subdivision (b).
   (b) (1) The oil spill prevention and administration fee shall be
imposed upon a person owning crude oil at the time that the crude oil
is received at a marine terminal, by any mode of delivery that
passed over, across, under, or through waters of the state, from
within or outside the state, and upon a person who owns petroleum
products at the time that those petroleum products are received at a
marine terminal, by any mode of delivery that passed over, across,
under, or through waters of the state, from outside this state. The
fee shall be collected by the marine terminal operator from the owner
of the crude oil or petroleum products for each barrel of crude oil
or petroleum products received.
   (2) The oil spill prevention and administration fee shall be
imposed upon a person owning crude oil or petroleum products at the
time that the crude oil or petroleum products are received at a
refinery within the state by any mode of delivery that passed over,
across, under, or through waters of the state, whether from within or
outside the state. The refinery shall collect the fee from the owner
of the crude oil or petroleum products for each barrel received.
   (3) (A) There is a rebuttable presumption that crude oil or
petroleum products received at a marine terminal or a refinery have
passed over, across, under, or through waters of the state. This
presumption may be overcome by a marine terminal operator, refinery
operator, or owner of the crude oil or petroleum products by showing
that the crude oil or petroleum products did not pass over, across,
under, or through waters of the state. Evidence to rebut the
presumption may include, but shall not be limited to, documentation,
including shipping documents, bills of lading, highway maps, rail
maps, transportation maps, related transportation receipts, or
another medium, that shows the crude oil or petroleum products did
not pass over, across, under, or through waters of the state.
   (B) Notwithstanding the petition for redetermination and claim for
refund provisions of the Oil Spill Response, Prevention, and
Administration Fees Law (Part 24 (commencing with Section 46001) of
Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code), the State Board of
Equalization shall not do either of the following:
   (i) Accept or consider a petition for redetermination of fees
determined pursuant to this section if the petition is founded upon
the grounds that the crude oil or petroleum products did or did not
pass over, across, under, or through waters of the state.
   (ii) Accept or consider a claim for a refund of fees paid pursuant
to this section if the claim is founded upon the grounds that the
crude oil or petroleum products did or did not pass over, across,
under, or through waters of the state.
   (C) The State Board of Equalization shall forward to the
administrator an appeal of a redetermination or a claim for a refund
of fees that is based on the grounds that the crude oil or petroleum
products did or did not pass over, across, under, or through waters
of the state.
   (4) The fees shall be remitted to the State Board of Equalization
by the refinery operator or the marine terminal operator on the 25th
day of the month based upon the number of barrels of crude oil or
petroleum products received at a refinery or marine terminal during
the preceding month. A fee shall not be imposed pursuant to this
section with respect to crude oil or petroleum products if the person
who would be liable for that fee, or responsible for its collection,
establishes that the fee has already been collected by a refinery or
marine terminal operator registered under this chapter or paid to
the State Board of Equalization with respect to the crude oil or
petroleum product.
   (5) The oil spill prevention and administration fee shall not be
collected by a marine terminal operator or refinery operator or
imposed on the owner of crude oil or petroleum products if the fee
has been previously collected or paid on the crude oil or petroleum
products at another marine terminal or refinery. A marine terminal
operator or a refinery operator receiving petroleum products derived
from crude oil refined in the state may presume the fee has been
previously collected.
   (6) An owner of crude oil or petroleum products is liable for the
fee until it has been paid to the State Board of Equalization, except
that payment to a refinery operator or marine terminal operator
registered under this chapter is sufficient to relieve the owner from
further liability for the fee.
   (7) On or before January 20, the administrator shall annually
prepare a plan that projects revenues and expenses over three fiscal
years, including the current year. Based on the plan, the
administrator shall set the fee so that projected revenues, including
any interest and inflation, are equivalent to expenses as reflected
in the current Budget Act and in the proposed budget submitted by the
Governor. In setting the fee, the administrator may allow for a
surplus if the administrator finds that revenues will be exhausted
during the period covered by the plan or that the surplus is
necessary to cover possible contingencies. The administrator shall
notify the State Board of Equalization of the adjusted fee rate,
which shall be rounded to no more than four decimal places, to be
effective the first day of the month beginning not less than 30 days
from the date of the notification.
   (c) The moneys collected pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
deposited into the fund.
   (d) The State Board of Equalization shall collect the fee and
adopt regulations for implementing the fee collection program.
   (e) The fee described in this section shall be collected solely
for all of the following purposes:
   (1) To implement oil spill prevention programs through rules,
regulations, leasing policies, guidelines, and inspections and to
implement research into prevention and control technology.
   (2) To carry out studies that may lead to improved oil spill
prevention and response.
   (3) To finance environmental and economic studies relating to the
effects of oil spills.
   (4) To implement, install, and maintain emergency programs,
equipment, and facilities to respond to, contain, and clean up oil
spills and to ensure that those operations will be carried out as
intended.
   (5) To reimburse the State Board of Equalization for its
reasonable costs incurred to implement this chapter and to carry out
Part 24 (commencing with Section 46001) of Division 2 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code.
   (6) To fund the Oiled Wildlife Care Network pursuant to Section
8670.40.5.
   (f) The moneys deposited in the fund shall not be used for
responding to a spill.
   (g) The moneys deposited in the fund shall not be used to provide
a loan to any other fund.
   (h) The amendments to this section enacted in Section 37 of
Chapter 35 of the Statutes of 2014 shall become operative September
18, 2014.
  SEC. 2.  Section 46008 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code,
to read:
   46008.  "Barrel" means 42 gallons of crude oil or petroleum
products.
  SEC. 3.  Section 46018 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is
repealed.
  SEC. 4.  Section 46101 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
   46101.  (a) Every person who operates a refinery in this state, a
marine terminal in waters of the state, or operates a pipeline to
transport crude oil out of the state or petroleum products into the
state shall register with the board for the purposes of Section
8670.48 of the Government Code.
   (b) Every person who operates a refinery in this state or a marine
terminal in waters of the state shall register with the board for
the purposes of Section 8670.40 of the Government Code.
  SEC. 5.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Board
of Equalization collect the oil spill prevention and administration
fee imposed on crude oil or petroleum products pursuant to Section
8670.40 of the Government Code only upon first delivery to a refinery
or marine terminal, as described in subdivision (b) of Section
8670.40 of the Government Code, and not upon subsequent movement of
that same crude oil or petroleum products derived after that first
delivery.