BILL NUMBER: AB 1903	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 31, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 4, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wilk

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to add and repeal Section 911.3 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to natural gas.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1903, as amended, Wilk. Aliso Canyon gas leak: health impact
study.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including gas corporations. The
Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011, within the Public Utilities
Act, designates the commission as the state authority responsible for
regulating and enforcing federal law with respect to intrastate gas
pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities. Existing law
requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to
evaluate the environmental and health risks posed by various
substances.
   This  bill   bill   , if sufficient
moneys are   recovered by the commission and appropriated
for the purpose of these provisions,  would require the
commission to authorize a study by the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment of the long-term health impacts of the significant
natural gas leak from the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility
located in the County of Los Angeles that started approximately
October 23, 2015, as specified. The bill would require the commission
to publish and transmit the report by the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment and its ongoing findings to the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature on a biennial basis, on or
before January 1 of every even-numbered year, from 2018 until 2028.
The bill would require the commission, consistent with its authority
to bring enforcement actions, to order Southern California Gas
Company to pay for the study. The bill would require the commission
to prohibit Southern California Gas Company from recovering any of
those costs in any rate approved by the commission. The bill would
repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 911.3 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   911.3.  (a)  The   If moneys are appropriated
as specified in subdivision (d), the  commission shall
authorize a study by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment of the long-term health impacts of the significant natural
gas leak from the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located
in the County of Los Angeles that started approximately October 23,
2015. The study shall include, but is not limited to, both of the
following:
   (1) An investigation of the impact of the natural gas leak on the
health of persons who resided within a 12-mile radius of the Aliso
Canyon natural gas storage facility in the County of Los Angeles
between October 23, 2015, and the date when the State Oil and Gas
Supervisor has determined that the gas well safety review conducted
pursuant to Order 1109, issued by the State Oil and Gas Supervisor on
March 4, 2016, is complete.
   (2) An evaluation of the impact on residents due to exposure to
chemicals, including, but not limited to, methane, benzene, and
mercaptan.
   (b) The commission shall publish and transmit the report by the
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and its ongoing
findings to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on a
biennial basis, on or before January 1 of every even-numbered year,
from 2018 until 2028.
   (c) (1) Consistent with its authority to bring enforcement actions
under this part, the commission shall order Southern California Gas
Company to pay for the study  conducted pursuant to 
 described in  subdivision (a).
   (2) The commission shall prohibit Southern California Gas Company
from recovering any of the costs ordered to be paid pursuant to
paragraph (1) in any rate approved by the commission.
   (3) If the commission penalizes Southern California Gas Company
for its responsibilities related to the natural gas leak at the Aliso
Canyon  Natural Gas Storage   natural gas
storage  facility, the commission may include the costs of the
study  conducted pursuant to   described in
 subdivision (a) in any penalty assessment. 
   (d) The commission shall authorize and the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment shall undertake the study described in
subdivision (a) only if the commission has recovered sufficient
moneys to pay the costs of the entire study pursuant to subdivision
(c) and the Legislature has appropriated those moneys for the purpose
of this section.  
   (d) 
    (e)  This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2029, deletes or
extends that date.