BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 119 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair SB 119 (Hill) - As Amended July 1, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Utilities and Commerce |Vote:|13 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Judiciary | |8 - 1 | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill modifies laws governing excavations near subsurface installations. Specifically, this bill: SB 119 Page 2 1)Establishes the California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Advisory Committee (the Advisory Committee), within the Contractor's State Licensing Board (CSLB), to investigate violations of the state's excavation and subsurface installation laws, to coordinate education and outreach, and develop standards. 2)Creates a Safe Energy Infrastructure and Excavation Fund - to cover administrative costs of the Advisory Committee, an education program, and a workforce training program - to be funded by fines levied on gas and electric companies for safety violations, grants, fees charged to regional notification center members, filing fees from complaint hearings, and any other source. 3)Authorizes the CSLB, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and the Office of the State Fire Marshal to accept, amend, or reject the recommendations of the Advisory Committee to enforce specific provisions related to operators and excavators whose activities or business falls within the agency's statutorily defined enforcement jurisdiction. 4)Requires an excavator to delineate the area to be excavated before notifying the regional notification center. Specifies the amount of time notification of the regional call center is required prior to an excavation. 5)Provides that in an action for reimbursement or indemnification for a claim arising from damage to a SB 119 Page 3 subsurface installation in which a court finds that the excavator complied with the requirements of the law, the excavator may be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and expenses. 6)Requires, if the operator of a high-priority subsurface installation finds that the depth of the subsurface installation subject to agricultural activities is insufficient to safely perform those activities, the operator must send notification of the potential hazard to the landowner by registered mail. Within specified days of that notification, the operator must go to the site at a time mutually agreed upon by both parties, and identify the location and depth of the high-priority subsurface installation with permanent markers. 7)Requires each gas company to collect data to inform its outreach activities, including: (1) Damages to underground PUC-regulated pipeline facilities that occur during the performance of landscaping activities from the day of enactment of this bill until January 1, 2020; (2) All claims filed by a gas company against an excavator for damage to a PUC-regulated pipeline facility; and (3) Any other information that the PUC may require. 8)Requires real property owners to call a regional call center when excavating on their property and using any tools other than hand tools, regardless of whether the work being performed requires a permit. Provides that a person complying with the notification provisions is not relieved of his or her duty to perform any excavation with reasonable care to prevent damage to subsurface installations. Makes numerous findings and declarations regarding the efficiency of regional notification centers, including among others, more effective methods of coordination and communication to increase safety, SB 119 Page 4 timely responses to request for field markings, and better coordination with the Department of Transportation. 9)Revises definitions of terms used regarding excavation and subsurface installation. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Increased initial costs for CSLB of $2.5 million (Contractors License Fund) for staff support, information technology, board meeting and member expenses, and complaint inspections associated with the establishment of the Advisory Committee. Ongoing annual costs of $2.1 million (Contractors License Fund). 2)Estimated costs increases of $1.2 to $1.3 million for CSLB cases referred to the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution (Contractors License Fund) 3)Minor, absorbable costs for the PUC and State Fire Marshall COMMENTS: 1)Rationale. According to the author, roughly 7,000 of California's natural gas pipelines are hit accidentally every year during subsurface excavation. It is estimated that roughly half of the accidents occur because the excavator failed to use the free 8-1-1 service to locate and mark pipes digging. Although existing law requires excavators to call regional "one call" centers to have the locations of underground SB 119 Page 5 facilities located and marked before starting an excavation, many fail to do so. This past April, a frontloader in Fresno came into contact with a 12-inch high pressure natural gas pipe, causing an explosion that killed one person and injured 14. This bill seeks to improve enforcement, clarify the law, and develop strategies for improving excavation safety. 2)Background. Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the federal pipeline safety regulator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), have identified call-before-you-dig laws as a means of improving excavation safety. PHMSA, in adopting regulations requiring distribution pipeline companies to develop comprehensive risk-based pipeline safety programs, explored best practices in excavation enforcement, and its working group found in 2005 that the states that have had the most success house enforcement in a centralized enforcement agency recommending the agency responsible for pipeline safety. California relies on the Attorney General and district attorneys to enforce the one-call law, though regulatory authorities such as the PUC, the Office of the State Fire Marshall (OFSM), and CSLB have broad jurisdiction over gas pipeline and electric operators, hazardous liquid operators, and contractors, respectively, and thus have the ability to enforce safe operations on those entities within their jurisdictions. However, according to the author, existing authorities have rarely been used except for a recent PUC investigation into PG&E recordkeeping practices on its distribution system, which explores excavation issues. SB 119 Page 6 Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081