BILL NUMBER: AB 1420	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 6, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 30, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Salas
   (Coauthor: Senator Vidak)

                        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. 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 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 an active gas pipeline within a sensitive area
pursuant to Section 3270.6 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  that  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  require the
responsible party to  provide assistance, including temporary
relocation, to those residents if  it   the
local health officer or his or her designee  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.
   (c) The responsible party shall be liable for the costs incurred
by the local health officer or his or her designee pursuant to this
section. 
   (d) Providing resident assistance and reimbursement for local
health officer expenses shall not relieve a responsible party from
liability for damages, and a responsible party shall not condition
assistance or request a waiver of liability from the recipient of the
assistance. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 3270.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   3270.5.  (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 within
sensitive areas.
   (b) By January 1, 2018, the division shall identify all active gas
pipelines of any diameter subject to this section.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "sensitive area" means any of
the following:
   (1) An area containing a building intended for human occupancy,
such as a residence, school, hospital, or business, that is located
within 300 feet of an active gas pipeline and that is not necessary
to the operation of the pipeline.
   (2) An area determined by the supervisor to present significant
potential threat to life, health, property, or natural resources in
the event of a leak from an active gas pipeline.
   (3) An area determined by the supervisor to have an active gas
pipeline that has a history of chronic leaks.
  SEC. 3.  Section 3270.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   3270.6.  Upon the discovery of a leak from an active gas pipeline
under the jurisdiction of the division that is within a sensitive
area, as defined in Section 3270.5, the owner or 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.