Amended in Senate June 30, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 21, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1420

Introduced by Assembly Member Salas

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(Coauthor: Senator Vidak)

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February 27, 2015

An act to add Section 101042 to the Health and Safety Code, and to add Sections 3270.5 and 3270.6 to the Public Resources Code, relating to oil and gas.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1420, as amended, Salas. Oil and gas: pipelines.

Existing law requires the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources to prescribe minimum facility maintenance standards for oil and gas production facilities, including pipelines that are not under the jurisdiction of the State Fire Marshal. begin insert Under the division’s regulations, an owner or operator of an active environmentally sensitive gas pipeline that is a gathering line is required to perform a mechanical integrity test on the pipeline, unless it is less than 10 years old. end insert

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This bill would require the division to prioritize the identification and testing of those pipelines that are near sensitive areas.

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This bill would require a mechanical integrity test every 2 years for all active gas pipelines of any diameter that are identified by the division as environmentally sensitive. The bill would require the division, by January 1, 2018, to identify all gas pipelines that are environmentally sensitive.

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Existing law establishes local health departments, under the purview of the local health officer. Existing law prescribes various duties for those local health departments, including supervising remediation when hazardous waste is released and enforcing statutes relating to public health.

This bill would require a local health officer or his or her designee, if he or she is notified of a leak in a pipeline regulated by the division and makes certain determinations, to take certain actions related to the leak, working collaboratively with the division and the owner or operator of that pipeline. The bill would require the local public health officer or his or her designee to direct the responsible party to notify residents affected by the leak if he or she determines that the leak poses a serious threat to public health and safety. Because the bill would require a local health officer or his or her designee to provide a higher level of service to the public, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would require begin insert owners or end insert operators of pipelines under the division’s jurisdiction, upon discovery of a leak from the pipeline, to notify the division and the appropriate local health officer or his or her designee of the leak. Because a violation of this requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 101042 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

101042.  

(a) If the local health officer or his or her designee is
notified of a leak in a pipeline that is regulated by the Division of
Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources pursuant to Article 4.4
(commencing with Section 3270) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of
the Public Resources Code and the local health officer or his or
her designee determines that the leak poses a risk to public health
or safety and the response to the leak has been inadequate to protect
the public health or safety, the local health officer or his or her
designee shall, working collaboratively with the division and the
owner or operator of the pipeline, do both of the following:

(1) Direct the responsible party to test, to the satisfaction of the
agency overseeing the testing, the soil, air, and water in the affected
area for contamination caused by the leak and disclose the results
of the tests to the public.

(2) Make a determination, based on the result of the tests, on
whether the leak poses a serious threat to the public health and
safety of residents affected by the leak, and provide assistance to
those residents if it so determines.

(b) If the local health officer or his or her designee determines,
based on the results of the test, that the leak poses a serious threat
to public health and safety, the local health officer or his or her
designee shall direct the responsible party to notify all residents
affected by the leak.

SEC. 2.  

Section 3270.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

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3270.5.  

The division shall prioritize the identification and
testing of all pipelines under its jurisdiction that are near sensitive
areas, such as residential areas and schools.

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begin insert 3270.5. end insert   

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(a) The division shall require a mechanical integrity
test, as described in subdivision (e) of Section 1774.1 of Title 14
of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor regulation,
every two years for all active gas pipelines of any diameter that
are environmentally sensitive, as defined in Section 1760 of Title
14 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor
regulation.

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(b) By January 1, 2018, the division shall identify all active gas
pipelines of any diameter subject to this section.

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SEC. 3.  

Section 3270.6 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

3270.6.  

Upon the discovery of a leak from a pipeline under the
jurisdiction of the division, the begin insert owner or end insert operator of the pipeline
shall promptly notify the division and the local health officer, or
his or her designee, of the jurisdiction in which the leak is located.

SEC. 4.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain
costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement
to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.