BILL NUMBER: SB 62	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2016
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2016
	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, 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) advocating for
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
require the office to annually provide specified information to the
chairpersons of the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of each
house of the Legislature.


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) Advocating, as a party to commission proceedings and on behalf
of the interests of public utility customers, for 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) 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 all of the following information:
   (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.
   (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.