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 diameter within sensitive areas, as defined. The bill would require the division, by January 1, 2018, to identify all active gas pipelines within sensitive areas.
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 an active gas pipeline within a sensitive area 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
2notified of a leak in an active gas pipeline within a sensitive area
3pursuant to Section 3270.6 of the Public Resources Code and the
4local health officer or his or her designee determines that the leak
5poses a risk to public health or safety andbegin insert thatend insert the response to the
6leak has been inadequate to protect the public health or safety, the
7local health officer or his or her designee shall, working
8collaboratively with the division and the owner or operator of the
9pipeline, do both of the following:
10(1) Direct the
responsible party to test, to the satisfaction of the
11agency overseeing the testing, the soil, air, and water in the affected
12area for contamination caused by the leak and disclose the results
13of the tests to the public.
14(2) Make a determination, based on the result of the tests, on
15whether the leak poses a serious threat to the public health and
16safety of residents affected by the leak, andbegin insert require the responsible
17party toend insert provide assistance, including temporary relocation, to
18those residents ifbegin delete itend deletebegin insert the local health officer or his or her designeeend insert
19 so determines.
20(b) If the local health officer or his or her designee determines,
21based on the results of the test, that the leak poses a serious threat
22to public health and safety, the local health officer or his or her
23designee shall direct the responsible party to notify all residents
24affected by the leak.
25(c) The responsible party shall be liable for the costs incurred
26by the local health officer or his or her designee pursuant to this
27
section.
28(d) Providing resident assistance and reimbursement for local
29health officer expenses shall not relieve a responsible party from
30liability for damages, and a responsible party shall not condition
31assistance or request a waiver of liability from the recipient of the
32assistance.
Section 3270.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
34to read:
(a) The division shall require a mechanical integrity
36test, as described in subdivision (e) of Section 1774.1 of Title 14
37of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor regulation,
38every two years for all active gas pipelines of any diameter within
39sensitive areas.
P4 1(b) By January 1, 2018, the division shall identify all active gas
2pipelines of any diameter subject to this section.
3(c) For purposes of this section, “sensitive area” means any of
4the following:
5(1) An area containing a building intended for human occupancy,
6such as a
residence, school, hospital, or business, that is located
7within 300 feet of an active gas pipeline and that is not necessary
8to the operation of the pipeline.
9(2) An area determined by the supervisor to present significant
10potential threat to life, health, property, or natural resources in the
11event of a leak from an active gas pipeline.
12(3) An area determined by the supervisor to have an active gas
13pipeline that has a history of chronic leaks.
Section 3270.6 is added to the Public Resources Code,
15to read:
Upon the discovery of a leak from an active gas
17pipeline under the jurisdiction of the division that is within a
18sensitive area, as defined in Section 3270.5, the owner or operator
19of the pipeline shall promptly notify the division and the local
20health officer, or his or her designee, of the jurisdiction in which
21the leak is located.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
23Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain
24costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
25because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction,
26eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
27or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
28Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
29meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
30Constitution.
31However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
32this act contains other costs
mandated by the state, reimbursement
33to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
34pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
354 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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