Amended in Senate September 1, 2015

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

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1420

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 begin insert the division, commencing January 1, 2018, to require end insert a mechanical integrity test every 2 years for all active gas pipelines begin delete of any diameter within sensitive areas, as defined. end delete begin insert in sensitive areas that are 10 years old or older, except as provided. The bill would require the division to maintain a list of active gas pipelines in sensitive areas. The bill would define active gas pipelines as inservice gas pipelines of any diameter within the division’s jurisdiction. end insert The bill would require begin delete the division, by January 1, 2018, to identify all active gas pipelines within sensitive areas. end delete begin insert operators of active gas pipelines in sensitive areas, by January 1, 2018, to submit to the division maps identifying the location of those pipelines and other locational information, as provided. The bill would require the division to perform random periodic spot check inspections end insert begin insert to ensure that the submitted maps are accurately reported. 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 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 begin delete owners or operators of pipelines under the division’s jurisdiction, end delete begin insert an owner or operator of an active gas pipeline in a sensitive area, end insert 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 begin delete pipeline end delete begin insert pipeline, that is within
the jurisdiction of the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources end insert begin insert and end insert within a sensitive begin delete area end delete begin insert area, end insert 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 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)  begin delete The end delete begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Commencing January 1, 2018, the end insert 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 begin delete of any diameter within sensitive areas. end delete begin insert in
sensitive areas that are 10 years old or older. end insert

begin insert

(2) The division shall maintain a list of active gas pipelines in
sensitive areas.

end insert begin delete

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

end delete begin insert

(b) (1) By January 1, 2018, an operator of an active gas
pipeline in a sensitive area shall submit to the division, as part of
compliance with pipeline management plan requirements pursuant
to Section 1774.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations,
an up-to-date and accurate map identifying the location of the
pipeline and other up-to-date and accurate locational information
of the pipeline as determined and in a format specified by the
division.

end insert begin insert

(2) The division shall perform random periodic spot check
inspections to ensure that the information submitted pursuant to
paragraph (1) is accurately reported.

end insert

(c) For purposes of this section, begin delete “sensitive end delete begin insert the following terms
are defined as follows: end insert

begin insert

(1) “Active gas pipeline” means an inservice gas pipeline
regardless of diameter that is within the division’s jurisdiction.

end insert

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert “Sensitive end insert area” means any of the following:

begin delete

(1)

end delete

begin insert (A) end insert  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.

begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (B) end insert  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.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (C) end insert  An area determined by the supervisor to have an active gas
pipeline that has a history of chronic leaks.

begin insert

(d) (1) On a case-by-case basis, the supervisor, at his or her
discretion or upon the request of an operator, may allow testing
performed to satisfy the requirements of other regulatory entities
to satisfy the requirements of mechanical integrity testing pursuant
to subdivision (a).

end insert begin insert

(2) The supervisor shall make a written finding of his or her
decision pursuant to this subdivision.

end insert begin insert

(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), the testing requirements of
the other regulatory entities must meet or exceed the testing
requirements pursuant to subdivision (a).

end insert begin insert

(e) This section does not affect or limit the authority of the
supervisor pursuant to Section 3106, 3270, or any other section
of the Public Resources Code.

end insert

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 begin delete under the jurisdiction of the division end delete 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.