BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 888 (Allen) - Gas corporations:  emergency management
          
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          |Version: May 11, 2016           |Policy Vote: G.O. 9 - 0, E.,    |
          |                                |          U., & C. 9 - 2        |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: May 27, 2016      |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar    |
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          Bill  
          Summary:  SB 888 declares the Office of Emergency Services (OES)  
          as the lead agency for emergency response to a significant leak  
          of natural gas from a natural gas storage facility.  The bill  
          also directs the California Public Utilities (CPUC) to place any  
          penalties assessed against a gas corporation for a natural gas  
          storage facility leak into a special account and places  
          requirements and restrictions on the use of the monies in the  
          account.


          *********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM - SUSPENSE FILE ***********
             The following information is revised to reflect amendments 
                      adopted by the committee on May 27, 2016



          Fiscal  
          Impact: 
           The annual cost of this bill would depend upon how many  
            "significant" leaks occur in that year.  Both OES and ARB  
            provided the per incident costs below:
               o      Approximately $600 (including staffing and travel  







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                 costs) for OES to deploy an onsite coordinator.  This  
                 would be recovered from the responsible party.
               o      Approximately $100,000 (Oil, Gas and Geothermal  
                 Administrative Fund) for ARB to contract for downwind  
                 flights to characterize the natural gas release rate at  
                 reasonable periodic intervals using small planes with  
                 monitors to measure methane.

           Unknown, but potentially significant, redirection of penalty  
            revenue from the General Fund to the Gas Storage Facility Leak  
            Mitigation Account created by this bill.

          Committee  
          Amendments:  
           Clarifies that the Office of Emergency Services is the lead on  
            significant gas leaks that pose a present or potential hazard  
            to public health and safety, property, or to the environment.



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