BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 494
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
494 (Hill)
As Amended May 13, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Governmental |18-0 |Gray, Linder, Alejo, | |
|Organization | |Bigelow, Campos, | |
| | |Cooley, Cooper, Daly, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gipson, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Levine, Mayes, Perea, | |
| | |Salas, Steinorth, | |
| | |Wilk | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
SB 494
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|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Creates the California Earthquake Safety Fund to be
used for seismic safety and earthquake-related programs,
including the earthquake early warning system. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Creates the California Earthquake Safety Fund in the State
Treasury.
2)Specifies that upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
moneys in the fund shall be used for seismic safety and
earthquake-related programs, including the statewide
earthquake early warning system.
3)Specifies that the California Earthquake Safety Fund may
accept federal funds, funds from revenue bonds, local funds,
and funds from private sources.
EXISTING LAW:
SB 494
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1)Creates, within the office of the Governor, the Office of
Emergency Services (OES) which, under the Director of
Emergency Services, coordinates disaster response, emergency
planning, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, disaster
mitigation, and homeland security activities.
2)Requires various entities, including OES, through a
public-private partnership, to develop a comprehensive
statewide earthquake early warning system in California, as
specified.
3)Requires OES to identify funding for an earthquake early
warning system through single or multiple sources of revenues
that shall be limited to federal funds, funds from revenue
bonds, local funds, and private grants.
4)Prohibits General Fund moneys to be used for the establishment
of an earthquake early warning system.
5)Specifies that if funding is not identified by January 1,
2016, the provisions relating to the establishment of an
earthquake early warning system should be repealed.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will have negligible fiscal impact to the
Office of Emergency Services (OES), which oversees earthquake
preparedness programs; minor and absorbable costs to the State
Treasurer to establish the new fund. Any cost pressure to
implement the earthquake early warning system will not result in
General Fund costs as current law prohibits OES from using
General Fund resources for the program.
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COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill: According to the author, while existing
law requires OES to develop a comprehensive statewide earthquake
early warning system, it does not establish a state fund capable
of accepting grants or contributions to implement the earthquake
early warning system in California.
The author argues that this bill would establish the California
Earthquake Safety Fund to help fund and coordinate seismic
safety and earthquake-related programs, including the statewide
earthquake early warning system.
Earthquake Early Warning Systems: When an earthquake occurs,
seismic waves radiate from the epicenter like waves on a pond -
it is these waves we feel as earthquake shaking which causes
damage to structures. The technology exists to detect moderate
to large earthquakes so quickly that a warning can be sent to
locations outside the area where the earthquake begins before
these destructive waves arrive. The amount of warning time at a
particular location depends on the distance from the earthquake
epicenter. Locations very close to the earthquake epicenter
will receive relatively little or no warning whereas locations
far removed from the earthquake epicenter would receive more
warning time but may not experience damaging shaking. For those
locations in between, the warning time could range from seconds
to minutes.
Currently, there are two approaches to earthquake early warning
- the "single station" (or on-site) approach and the "network"
approach. In the single-station approach, a single sensor
detects the arrival of the faster but weaker seismic wave
(P-wave) and warns before the arrival of the slower, more
destructive seismic wave (S-wave). This approach is relatively
simple, but some would argue it is less accurate and more prone
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to false alerts compared to the network approach.
The network approach utilizes many seismic sensors that are
distributed across a wide area where earthquakes are likely to
occur. This network of sensors sends data to a central site
where ground motion signals are analyzed, earthquakes are
detected and warnings are issued. The network approach is
considered to be slower, but more reliable than the on-site
approach. This is because it uses information from many
stations to confirm that the ground motion detected is actually
from an earthquake and not from some other source of vibration.
SB 135 (Padilla), Chapter 342, Statutes of 2013, required OES to
develop an earthquake early warning system in California. OES
must first identify funding sources for the system that are not
general fund. OES has primary role/lead in implementing
earthquake early warning system. They have set up a working
group composed of departments, agencies and other stakeholders
to establish best practices for an earthquake early warning
system, as well as identifying funding.
Prior/Related Legislation: SB 31 (Padilla), Chapter 342,
Statutes of 2013, required OES, in collaboration with various
entities, to develop a comprehensive statewide earthquake early
warning system in California.
AB 928 (Blakeslee) of the 2009-10 Regular Session. The bill
would have required the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop an
earthquake early warning system and coordinate development of
that system with the Cal-EMA, the Department of Education, and
the Public Utilities Commission. The bill would have required
the earthquake early warning system to be designed to protect
the lives of high-speed train passengers and schoolchildren, and
critical infrastructure by providing advanced earthquake warning
and by enabling preventive measures seconds before an
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earthquake. (Held in the Assembly Governmental Organization
Committee)
SB 1278 (Alquist), Chapter 532, Statutes of 2006. The bill,
among other things, renamed the Seismic Safety Commission the
Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, placed the
commission within the State and Consumer Services Agency, as an
independent unit, and increased the membership of the commission
from 17 members to 20 members.
Analysis Prepared by:
Kenton Stanhope / G.O. / (916) 319-2531 FN:
0001522