BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 295|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 295
Author: Jackson (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/15
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-1, 9/1/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Pipeline safety: inspections
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the State Fire Marshall (SFM), or
an officer or employee authorized by the SFM, beginning on
January 1, 2017, to annually inspect all intrastate pipelines
and operators of intrastate pipelines under the jurisdiction of
the SFM and requires the SFM to adopt regulations implementing
this provision by that date.
Assembly Amendments delete the Senate version of the bill that
dealt with the College Access Tax Credit Fund and instead
requires the SFM, or an officer or employee authorized by the
SFM, beginning on January 1, 2017, to annually inspect all
intrastate pipelines and operators of intrastate pipelines under
the jurisdiction of the SFM and would require the SFM to adopt
regulations implementing this provision by that date.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Specifies, under the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of
1981 (Act), that the SFM exercises safety regulatory
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jurisdiction over intrastate pipelines used for the
transportation of hazardous or highly volatile liquid
substances.
2)Authorizes the SFM to exercise safety regulatory jurisdiction
over portions of interstate pipelines located within the state
and subject to an agreement between the United States
Secretary of Transportation and the SFM.
3)Authorizes the SFM to enter, inspect, and examine, at
reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, the records and
properties of any pipeline operators that are required to be
inspected and examined to determine whether the pipeline
operator is in compliance with the Act.
This bill:
1)Requires the SFM, or an officer or employee authorized by the
SFM, beginning on January 1, 2017, to annually inspect all
intrastate pipelines and operators of intrastate pipelines
under the jurisdiction of the SFM to ensure compliance with
applicable laws and regulations.
2)Requires the SFM, by January 1, 2017, to adopt regulations
implementing the provisions of this bill.
3)Specifies that for portions of interstate pipelines that are
not under the jurisdiction of the SFM, the SFM shall not
become an inspection agent for those pipelines unless all
regulatory and enforcement authority over those pipelines is
transferred to the SFM from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous
Material Safety Administration.
4)Requires the SMF to revise fees to a level sufficient to cover
the costs of the annual inspections.
Background
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "on May 19 of
this year tragedy struck again when an onshore pipeline carrying
crude oil ruptured and spilled over 100,000 gallons of oil, over
20,000 gallons of which ended up in the ocean off the Santa
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Barbara coastline. To date this spill has caused significant
negative impacts to the ocean, local beaches, wildlife, and the
local economy. The pipeline that ruptured, line 901, was being
inspected every other year. If line 901 had been inspected
annually the corrosion would likely have been detected before it
ruptured and this disaster would have been avoided."
Refugio Oil Spill. The Refugio oil spill occurred on May 19,
2015, just north of the Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara
County, California. The spill came from a ruptured pipeline
owned by Plains All American Pipeline. The final tally found
$142,800 U.S. gallons leaked from the pipeline. The immediate
oil spill area stretched over nine miles of California
coastline, and tar balls have washed up as far as one hundred
miles from the spill site.
On May 20, 2015, Governor Brown issued an emergency proclamation
for Santa Barbara County due to the effects of the oil spill.
Refugio State Beach and El Capitan State Beach were closed for
over a month because of the oil spill. About 100 live birds and
mammals were rescued and expected to be returned to the wild.
Another 260 dead birds and mammals were found in the spill area.
However, the full impact will never be known since animals may
travel a long distance before succumbing to their injuries.
The Office of the SFM's Pipeline Safety Division. The SFM
regulates the safety of approximately 5,500 miles of intrastate
hazardous liquid transportation pipelines and acts as an agent
of the federal Office of Pipeline Safety concerning the
inspection of more than 2,000 miles of interstate pipelines.
Pipeline Safety staff inspect, test, and investigate to ensure
compliance with all federal and state pipeline safety laws and
regulations. Hazardous liquid pipelines are also periodically
tested for integrity using procedures approved by the SFM. The
program has been certified by the federal government since 1981.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 2201 (Bradford, Chapter 481, Statutes of 2012) raised the
civil penalties associated with violations of the Act.
Specifically, it raises the civil penalties for each day that a
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violation of the Act persists from $10,000 to $200,000, and
raises the civil penalties for any related series of violations
of the Act from $500,000 to $2 million.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)One-time costs of approximately $3.3 million (special fund) to
establish regulations and administer the inspection program in
the first year.
2)Ongoing annual costs of approximately $2.4 million (special
fund) to administer the inspection program.
3)Unknown potential increase in fees charged to pipeline
operators and independent hydrostatic testing firms. The
current fee schedule for pipeline operations is $6,000 per
pipeline operator and $550 per mile of pipeline operated for
intrastate pipelines. There is also a fee on the registration
of the independent hydrostatic testing firms. Fee revenues
have not been raised since 2007. The special fund into which
these fees are placed had a significant fund balance of $8.8
million at the end of 2014-15.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/2/15)
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Audubon California
Azul
California Coastal Commission
California Coastal Protection Network
California League of Conversation Voters
California Professional Firefighters
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Center for Biological Diversity
Clean Water Action
Defenders of Wildlife
Environment California
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Environmental Defense Center
Environmental Working Group
Heal the Bay
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
Surfrider Foundation
Surfrider Foundation Santa Barbara Chapter
Surfrider Foundation South Bay Chapter
Venoco, Inc.
Wildcoast
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/31/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters of the bill argued that SB
295 helps reduce the risk of another catastrophic oil spill to
our sensitive coast and ocean environment by required the SFM to
annually inspect all intrastate pipeline operators. In
addition, supporters argue that this bill increases the
frequency of hydrostatic pipeline testing, and it requires the
SFM to increase the fees assessed on pipeline operators to pay
for the increased inspections.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-1, 9/1/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
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McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Gallagher
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Beth Gaines, Harper, Obernolte,
Patterson, Waldron
Prepared by:Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
9/2/15 10:21:14
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