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. 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.
This bill would require a mechanical integrity test every 2 years for all active gas pipelines of any diameterbegin delete that are identified by the division as environmentally sensitive.end deletebegin insert within sensitive areas, as
defined.end insert The bill would require the division, by January 1, 2018, to identify allbegin insert activeend insert gas pipelinesbegin delete that are environmentally sensitive.end deletebegin insert within sensitive areas.end insert
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 inbegin delete aend deletebegin insert
an active gasend insert pipelinebegin delete regulated by the divisionend deletebegin insert within a sensitive areaend insert 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 owners or 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 101042 is added to the Health and Safety
2Code, to read:
(a) If the local health officer or his or her designee is
4notified of a leak inbegin delete aend deletebegin insert an active gasend insert pipelinebegin delete that is regulated by begin insert within end insertbegin inserta sensitive area pursuant to Section 3270.6end insert
of
5the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources pursuant to
P3 1Article 4.4 (commencing with Section 3270) of Chapter 1 of
2Division 3end delete
3the Public Resources Code and the local health officer or his or
4her designee determines that the leak poses a risk to public health
5or safety and the response to the leak has been inadequate to protect
6the public health or safety, the local health officer or his or her
7designee shall, working collaboratively with the division and the
8owner or operator of the pipeline, do both of the following:
9(1) Direct the responsible party to test, to the satisfaction of the
10agency overseeing the testing, the soil, air, and water in the affected
11area for contamination caused by the leak and disclose the results
12of the tests to the public.
13(2) Make a determination, based on the result of the tests, on
14whether the leak poses a serious threat to the public health and
15safety
of residents affected by the leak, and providebegin delete assistanceend delete
16begin insert assistance, including temporary relocation,end insert to those residents if it
17so determines.
18(b) If the local health officer or his or her designee determines,
19based on the results of the test, that the leak poses a serious threat
20to public health and safety, the local health officer or his or her
21designee shall direct the responsible party to notify all residents
22affected by the leak.
23(c) The responsible party shall be liable for the costs incurred
24by the local health officer or his or her designee pursuant to this
25
section.
Section 3270.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
27to read:
(a) The division shall require a mechanical integrity
29test, as described in subdivision (e) of Section 1774.1 of Title 14
30of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor regulation,
31every two years for all active gas pipelines of any diameterbegin delete that begin insert within sensitive areas.end insert
32are environmentally sensitive, as defined in Section 1760 of Title
3314 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor
34regulation.end delete
35(b) By January 1, 2018, the division shall identify all active gas
36pipelines
of any diameter subject to this section.
37(c) For purposes of this section, “sensitive area” means any of
38the following:
39(1) An area containing a building intended for human
40occupancy, such as a residence, school, hospital, or business, that
P4 1is located within 300 feet of an active gas pipeline and that is not
2necessary to the operation of the pipeline.
3(2) An area determined by the supervisor to present significant
4potential threat to life, health, property, or natural resources in
5the event of a leak from an active gas pipeline.
6(3) An area determined by the supervisor to have an active gas
7pipeline that has a history of chronic leaks.
Section 3270.6 is added to the Public Resources Code,
9to read:
Upon the discovery of a leak frombegin delete aend deletebegin insert an active gasend insert
11 pipeline under the jurisdiction of thebegin delete division,end deletebegin insert division that is within
12a sensitive area, as defined in Section 3270.5,end insert the owner or operator
13of the pipeline shall promptly notify the division and the local
14health officer, or his or her designee, of the jurisdiction in which
15the leak is located.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
17Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain
18costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
19because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction,
20eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
21or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
22Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
23meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
24Constitution.
25However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
26this act contains other costs
mandated by the state, reimbursement
27to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
28pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
294 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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