BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1346 (Gray) - Office of Emergency Services: State Emergency
Plan and statewide earthquake early warning system
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|Version: May 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: G.O. 12 - 0 |
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|Urgency: Yes |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1346, an urgency measure, would delete funding
restrictions and conditions that must be met before the Office
of Emergency Services (OES) can take actions to establish a
statewide earthquake early warning system (EEWS), including an
existing prohibition against using the General Fund for that
purpose, as well as a deadline to identify funds by a July 1,
2016 sunset date. The bill would also require OES to update the
State Emergency Plan on or before January 1, 2018 and every five
years thereafter, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Initial estimated capital costs of approximately $28 million
(General Fund) to establish the EEWS, according to a recent
EEWS Project Implementation Framework report (see staff
comments). Staff notes that the 2016-17 Budget includes a
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one-time General Fund appropriation of $6.875 million for
capital funding for EEWS purposes.
Ongoing annual administrative costs of approximately $17
million (General Fund) beginning in 2017-18, according to the
Project Implementation Framework report (see staff comments).
Staff notes that the 2016-17 Budget includes a one-time
General Fund appropriation of $3.125 million for state
operations related to the development of the EEWS: $734,000
for 4 PY of staff at OES, $150,000 for a financial strategy
contract, and $2.241 million for public education and
training.
OES indicates that it would incur minor and absorbable costs
to update the State Emergency Plan (SEP) by January 1, 2018
because they currently make frequent updates pursuant to
federal requirements.
Background: California is the second most seismically active state in the
country, behind Alaska. The Uniform California Earthquake
Rupture Forecast (UCERF) forecasts a 99.7% chance of a magnitude
6.7 or larger earthquake in the state during the next 30 years.
Some countries that experience high seismic activity have
developed early earthquake warning (EEW) systems. Currently,
Japan is the only country with a nationwide system, while
Turkey, Mexico, Taiwan, and others have implemented local
systems. Generally, these detection systems are based upon the
finding that the first waves emanating from the epicenter of the
earthquake, primary waves (P-waves), cause less damage but
travel faster than the slower and damage-causing secondary waves
(S-waves). This "single-station" approach can be used in
conjunction with a "network approach" that combines signals from
a regional seismic network of sensors that is capable of
characterizing large and complex earthquakes as they evolve.
EEW systems harness the sensor signals and provide a warning to
the public and active users of the system before a shaking
event. Depending on the distance from the epicenter, these
systems can provide advanced warning time ranging from seconds
to minutes, outside a 20-mile "blind zone" near an epicenter.
This would allow for emergency shutdowns of critical
infrastructure, such as trains, utilities, and industrial
processes, and allow the general public to take protective
action.
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The California Geological Survey (CGS), within the Department of
Conservation, currently operates over 5,000 seismic instruments
that monitor ground movement around the state through the Strong
Motion Instrumentation Program (SMIP). This is the largest
portion of the broader California Integrated Seismic Network
(CISN), which is comprised of 1,900 monitoring sites operated in
partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, and the UC
Berkeley Seismological Lab. Information from these instruments
is used for research and planning purposes, and to produce
"Shakemaps," which inform emergency responders where the worst
shaking occurred within minutes of an earthquake. The U.S.
Geological Survey is currently operating a small warning system
pilot program based on this instrumentation network, and
additional federal and foundation grants have been awarded to
support the development of a local earthquake early warning
system for the Los Angeles and Long Beach areas.
Existing inoperative law requires OES, in collaboration with
specified entities, to develop a comprehensive statewide EEWS
that includes specified features through a public-private
partnership. This provision is only operative if OES identified
funding for the system from non-General Fund sources, including
federal funds, revenue bonds, local funds, and private funds, by
July 1, 2016. If the funding is not identified by that date,
the requirement to establish an EEWS is repealed.
Proposed Law:
AB 1346, an urgency measure, would delete restrictions and
conditions for funding and establishing an EEWS, and require OES
to update the SEP every five years. Specifically, this bill
would:
Delete provisions that prohibit OES from identifying the
General Fund as a funding source for the purpose of
establishing the EEWS.
Delete provisions that limit EEWS funding to federal funds,
revenue bond funds, local funds, and private funds.
Delete provisions indicating that the requirement to establish
the EEWS is inoperative until OES identifies non-General Fund
funding for that purpose
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Delete provisions that repeal the statute on July 1, 2016 if
non-General Fund funding for the EEWS is not identified by
that date, and delete a requirement for OES to notify the
Secretary of State that funding was not identified by that
date.
Require OES to update the SEP by January 1, 2018 and every
five years thereafter, and require the SEP to be consistent
with the Safeguarding California Plan, the California Climate
Adaptation Planning Guide, and the internet website
cal-adapt.org, as specified.
Related
Legislation: SB 135 (Padilla), Chap. 342/2013, requires OES to
establish a statewide EEWS, as specified. This requirement is
only operative after OES identifies non-General Fund funding for
the system, and only if it does so by January 1, 2016.
SB 494 (Hill), Chap. 799/2015, established the California
Earthquake Safety Fund to be used for seismic safety and
earthquake-related programs, including the EEWS, and extended
the OES deadline for identifying non-General funds for the
system until July 1, 2016.
Staff
Comments: Despite the restrictions in the recently repealed law
that explicitly state that the requirement to establish an EEWS
in consultation with stakeholders is inoperative until OES
identifies sufficient funding, OES established a working group
in 2013 to formally initiate the EEWS planning process. The
working group released a "California Earthquake Early Warning
System, Project Implementation Framework" in April of this year.
The Implementation Framework describes how the EEWS could be
implemented for public use by building upon the existing CISN
and ShakeAlert systems, including a five-year implementation
schedule that outlines governance needs, capital and operational
needs, and system deployment and public outreach plans. The
Framework calls for expanding the current sensor network by 646
EEW-capable seismic stations (from the current 469 stations),
improving field telemetry for data communications, constructing
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and upgrading central processing and notification centers,
establishing public notification paths, raising awareness
through public education efforts, and building in incremental
performance improvements. The Project Implementation Framework
report also includes a cost estimate that calls for one-time
capital expenditures of $22 million for new and upgraded seismic
stations, GPS equipment, telemetry, microwave nodes, and other
overhead costs, one-time costs of $6 million to develop a public
education and outreach program (including social science, public
health, and risk communications research), and ongoing personnel
and operating costs of $17 million annually.
Staff notes that the 2016-17 Budget includes a one-time General
Fund appropriation of $10 million to support the implementation
of the California EEWS. According to the Budget Change Proposal
(BCP) submitted by OES with the Governor's May Revision, $6.875
million will be used for capital costs, including seismic
stations, GPS equipment, telemetry, and microwave nodes, and
$3.125 million will be used for "recurring costs" of $2.241
million for public education and training, $150,000 for a
financial strategy, and $734,000 for 4 permanent PY of OES
staffing (even though the funding is one-time). The BCP cited
the statutory requirement for OES to establish the EEWS as
justification for the funding, but failed to note the following:
(1) that OES is prohibited from identifying the General Fund as
a funding source for purposes of establishing the EEWS; (2) that
the requirement to establish the EEWS is inoperative until OES
identifies sufficient non-General Fund resources for that
purpose; and (3) that the statutory requirement was set to
expire before the budget year began.
Staff notes that the funding restrictions (limiting the EEWS
funding sources to federal funds, revenue bond funds, local
funds, and private funds), as well as the deadline to identify
funds (both conditions that this bill seeks to delete), were
amended into SB 135 by this Committee when it was released from
the Suspense File and approved on May 23, 2013.
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