BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1904
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1904 (Wilk) - As Introduced February 11, 2016
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|Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: |Materials | | |
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Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) to evaluate and report to the Legislature on
natural gas odorants and potential alternatives by January 1,
2018. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires OEHHA to provide a report to the Legislature that
includes:
AB 1904
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a) An assessment of the danger of odorants currently used
in natural gas storage facilities to public health and
safety and the environment.
b) Alternative odorants identified for possible use in
natural gas storage facilities that pose a lower risk to
public health and safety and the environment.
2)Requires OEHHA to evaluate the following issues for every
alternative odorant identified:
a) The feasibility of using the alternative odorant in
natural gas storage facilities.
b) Any risks of using the alternative odorant, including,
but not limited to, the risks of unwanted chemical
reactions and increased corrosion.
c) The effectiveness of the alternative odorant at warning
of a natural gas leak.
3)Sunsets the provisions of the bill on January 1, 2021.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)One-time costs of $500,000 for OEHHA staff to assess the
hazards of odorants and identify potential alternatives (GF,
Oil, Gas and Geothermal Administrative Fund or other special
fund).
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2)One-time costs of $140,000 for consultant contracts to
determine the safety and ecological impacts of odorants (GF,
Oil, Gas and Geothermal Administrative Fund or other special
fund).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, for months, there have been
widespread reports in Porter Ranch and the surrounding
communities of individuals with debilitating headaches, bloody
noses, and other adverse physical reactions resulting from the
gas leak at the Aliso Canyon facility. The adverse reactions
are likely caused by the odorants added to stored natural gas
as a safety precaution in order to be able to detect gas
leaks.
This bill will provide information regarding the health and
safety of odorants to inform the use of odorants in the
future.
2)Background. The Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility is owned by
the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and is located
in Los Angeles County just north of Porter Ranch, California.
SoCalGas is a gas corporation regulated by the California
Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
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On October 23, 2015, SoCalGas detected a methane gas leak at
its Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility at Well # SS-25. The
Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility gas leak was declared a
State Emergency on January 6, 2016, by Governor Jerry Brown.
Following an initial evaluation and several attempts to stop
the leak, SoCalGas began drilling a relief well in order to
plug the leaking well. The initial attempts to plug the leak
failed to stop the leak, and the leak lasted 112 days before
being permanently capped on February 18, 2016.
A study in the journal Science confirmed that the methane gas
leak was not only the largest in California's history, but
also the second largest in the nation. According to the lead
author of the study, as much as 60 metric tons of methane
spewed from the leak each hour.
The leak displaced nearly 2,290 households, requiring families
to move into temporary housing and hotels provided by
SoCalGas.
3)Implementation concerns. This bill requires OEHHA to
determine the feasibility, and effectiveness of alternative
lower-risk odorants that are not currently used in California
natural gas facilities. This non-health, but important public
safety, requirement is likely beyond the scope of OEHHA.
Although not required by the bill, assistance from additional
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entities such as the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources (DOGGR) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
may be necessary to evaluate the impacts.
Also, the timeline required in this bill may need to be
extended to ensure all current and alternative odorants are
properly evaluated. Alternately, the author may wish to limit
the number of odorants required to be evaluated in order to meet
the timeline in the bill.
4)Related legislation. Numerous bills have been introduced to
respond to the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility leak. AB
1902 (Wilk) extends the statute of limitations for civil
actions resulting from exposure to hazardous materials from
the Aliso Canyon gas leak. This bill is pending in the
Judiciary Committee.
AB 1903 (Wilk) directs the Public Utilities Commission and
the State Department of Public Health to jointly study the
long-term health impacts of the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak.
This bill is pending in the Health Committee.
AB 1905 (Wilk) directs the Natural Resources Agency to conduct
an independent scientific study on natural gas injection and
storage practices and facilities. This bill is pending in
this Committee.
SB 380 (Pavley) places a moratorium on natural gas injections
at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility and establishes
requirements to resume injections. This bill is scheduled to
be heard in this Committee today.
SB 886 (Pavley) requires the Division of Oil, Gas, Geothermal
Research (DOGGR) to institute a moratorium on natural gas
injections at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility and
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prevent use of wells drilled pre-1954. This bill is pending
in the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.
SB 887 (Pavley) requires DOGGR to prescribe standards for
natural gas storage wells and requires annual inspections.
This bill is pending in the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081