BILL NUMBER: SB 62 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 1, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 18, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senators Hill and Pavley
DECEMBER 30, 2014
An act to add and repeal Section 309.8 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 62, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: Office of
the Safety Advocate.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities and can establish its own
procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and
constitutional requirements of due process.
This bill would, until January 1, 2020, establish within the
commission the Office of the Safety Advocate to advocate for the
continuous, cost-effective improvement of the safety management and
safety performance of public utilities. The bill would require the
office to promote public utility safety by: (1) recommending
improvements to the commission's safety management policy and
procedures and its safety culture; (2) advocating for
risk-informed, cost-effective public utility safety management and
infrastructure improvements and for the transparency of safety
information; (2) recommending improvements to the
commission's safety management policy and procedures and its safety
culture; and (3) informing the official record on
safety-related risks in applicable commission proceedings and
assisting the commission in its efforts to hold public utilities
accountable for their safe operation. The bill would
authorize the office to compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from any public
utility, any affiliate of a public utility, or specified contractors
of a public utility. The bill would require the office to
annually provide specified information to the chairpersons of the
appropriate fiscal and policy committees of
each house of the Legislature and to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee. Legislature.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an
order or direction of the commission is a crime.
Because this bill would authorize the office to compel specified
entities to produce or disclose certain information, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of
a crime.
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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 309.8 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
309.8. (a) There is hereby established within the commission the
Office of the Safety Advocate to advocate for the continuous,
cost-effective improvement of the safety management and safety
performance of public utilities.
(b) The office shall promote public utility safety by doing all of
the following:
(1) Recommending improvements to the commission's safety
management policy and procedures and its safety culture.
(2)
(1) Advocating, as a party to commission proceedings
and on behalf of the interests of public utility customers, for
risk-informed, cost-effective effective
public utility safety management and infrastructure improvements and
for the transparency of safety information, including, but not
limited to, information relating to past performance.
(2) Recommending improvements to the commission's safety
management policy and procedures and its safety culture.
(3) Informing the official record on safety-related risks in
applicable commission proceedings and assisting the commission in its
efforts to hold public utilities accountable for their safe
operation.
(c) The office may compel the production or disclosure of any
information it deems necessary to perform its duties from any public
utility, any affiliate of a public utility, or any contractor of a
public utility undertaking work on behalf of the public utility that
pertains to the safety of the public utility's system. An objection
to a production or disclosure request shall be decided in writing by
the assigned commissioner or by the president of the commission, if
there is no assigned commissioner.
(d)
(c) On or before January 10 of each year, the office
shall provide to the chairpersons of the appropriate
fiscal and policy committees of each house of the
Legislature and to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
all of the following information:
(1) The number of personnel years used by the office during the
prior fiscal year.
(2) The moneys expended by the office in the prior fiscal year,
the estimated moneys to be expended by the office in the current
fiscal year, and the moneys proposed for appropriation for the office
in the following budget year.
(3) Workload standards and measures for the office.
(1) The actions taken by the office to recommend improvements to
the commission's safety management policy and procedures and its
safety culture related to the oversight of utilities.
(2) The actions taken by the office to recommend improvements to
public utility safety management policy and procedures and safety
culture.
(3) The proceedings in which the office participated and a brief
description of the testimony it filed.
(e)
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because 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.