BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 900
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Date of Hearing: June 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB
900 (Jackson) - As Amended May 31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 32-5
SUBJECT: State lands: coastal hazard removal and remediation
program
SUMMARY: Requires, upon appropriation of funding by the
Legislature, that the State Lands Commission (SLC) administer a
coastal hazard removal and remediation program (program).
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes SLC as an independent commission comprised of the
Lieutenant Governor, the State Controller, and the Director of
Finance and grants SLC with jurisdiction over state lands,
including coastal lands.
2)Requires SLC to inventory and remediate, where necessary,
abandoned mine hazards on state school lands.
THIS BILL:
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1)Requires SLC, within two years of an appropriation of funds,
to administer the program to do the following:
a) Complete an in-depth inventory of legacy (i.e.,
abandoned) oil and gas wells and other coastal hazards
along the California coastline and determine high-priority
hazards and legacy oil and gas wells to remediate;
b) Survey, study, and monitor oil seepage in state waters
and tidelands under its jurisdiction to determine oil
seepage locations, rates, and environmental impacts; and,
c) Begin the process of remediating improperly abandoned
legacy oil and gas wells that have a high risk of leaking
oil and, with any remaining funds, remove other identified
coastal hazards.
2)Authorizes SLC to seek and accept gifts, bequests, devises, or
donations to fund the program.
3)In cooperation with the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources (DOGGR), authorizes SLC seek to abandon (properly
close) legacy oil and gas wells that present a hazard to
public health and safety and the environment.
4)Requires SLC to annually report to the Legislature the
activities and accomplishments of the program.
5)Defines the following terms:
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a) "Coastal hazard" includes, but is not limited to, legacy
oil and gas wells and human-made structures, including
piers, jetties, groins, seawalls, and facilities associated
with past oil extraction and other commercial operations,
that pose a hazard to the public heath and safety; and,
b) "Legacy oil and gas well" as a well drilled near shore,
before current abandonment standards, where there is little
or no information on the well's abandonment procedure and
there is no viable company with the responsibility to
reabandon the well, should it start leaking or pose a
threat to the environment or the public health and safety.
6)Appropriates $2 million annually to the SLC for the
implementation of the program.
7)States legislative findings regarding legacy oil and gas wells
and their impacts.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill transfers $2 million per year from the
General Fund to the Land Bank Fund (LBF) in FY 2017-18, and up
to $2 million per year thereafter to ensure that the
unencumbered funds in the LBF available for implementation equal
$2 million. According to the SLC, one-time cost of $100,000 to
complete the in-depth inventory of legacy wells; annual costs of
approximately $50,000 to survey and monitor oil seepage; annual
costs of approximately $200,000 to remove coastal hazards; cost
pressures up to $390 million to plug and abandon legacy wells;
minor and absorbable costs to the SLC to report activities and
accomplishments to the Legislature; and, minor and absorbable
costs to DOGGR for permitting and consultation activities
related to plugging and abandoning wells.
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COMMENTS:
1)Background: SLC is an independent commission comprised of the
Lieutenant Governor, the State Controller, and the Director of
Finance. Established in 1938, SLC manages the state's 4
million acres of tidelands and submerged lands and the beds of
navigable rivers, streams, lakes, bays, estuaries, inlets, and
straits. In the marine context, SLC has broad authority over
sovereign lands, including rivers and sloughs, lakes,
tidelands, and submerged lands. It also manages energy and
mineral resource development through leases, has an oil spill
prevention program at marine oil terminals and offshore
platforms, and has an invasive species prevention program from
large ocean-going vessels.
2)Hazards on state lands: Weather systems and extreme storms
can cause dangerous coastal hazards to surface on shorelines.
When funding is available, SLC removes coastal hazards.
Coastal hazards can include remnants of coastal structures,
piers, oil wells, pilings, deteriorated electric cables, and
old pipes. Many coastal hazards are located on public trust
lands set aside for commerce, navigation, fishing, and
recreation, and can impede coastal use and threaten public
health and safety.
The Summerland Oil Field in Santa Barbara County was the world's
first offshore oil drilling operation and predates any
regulatory framework. While the visual infrastructure has
been removed, the wells were not properly capped and continue
to leak oil into the ocean and Santa Barbara's beaches.
SLC has developed a limited coastal hazard removal program that
has operated when funding has been available. The program was
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initiated when an inventory performed in the mid-1980s found
over 400 coastal hazards in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and
Ventura Counties. While some hazards were traced to
responsible parties, most were not and consequently became the
responsibility of the state. SLC has completed eight hazard
removal projects since 2001. In August, 2015, SLC directed
staff to conduct an initial assessment of the Becker Onshore
Well (in the Summerland Oil Field).
SLC also inventories and remediates abandoned mine hazards on
state school lands, in consultation with the Department of
Fish and Wildlife and the State Office of Historic
Preservation.
3)Author's statement:
The State Lands Commission has a demonstrated history of
successfully re-abandoning oil wells located in
California's tidelands. [SLC] also has a good record of
remediating coastal hazards like wood and steel pilings,
railroad irons, pipelines, and wooden beams and structures.
Given the effectiveness of [SLC] and its staff at
protecting California's coastline, it is the appropriate
body to remediate California's legacy oil wells and other
coastal hazards.
We already know that there are over 200 improperly capped
wells in state waters. In order to completely address the
issue of legacy coastal oil wells, SB 900 directs the [SLC]
to conduct an in-depth inventory of legacy oil wells along
California's coastline.
Finally, in the aftermath of the Refugio Oil Spill in May
of 2015, we learned that the state does not have data on
the amount of natural oil seepage in state waters. Natural
seepage refers to oil or gas that escapes from underground
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reservoirs to the earth's surface or into the ocean. One
famous example of terrestrial natural seepage is the La
Brea Tar Pits, but the largest known oil seep - Coal Oil
Point - is in the Santa Barbara Channel. By studying and
monitoring natural seepage, [SLC] will be better suited to
determine strategies to prevent as much natural seepage as
possible.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Azul
Betty Yee, State Controller (sponsor)
Black Surfers Collective
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California Coastal Protection Network
California League of Conservation Voters
California State Lands Commission
Center for Biological Diversity
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Clean Water Action
Committee for Green Foothills
Defenders of Wildlife
Endangered Habitats League
Environment California
Environmental Defense Center
Environmental Working Group
Get Oil Out!
GREENSPACE Cambria Land Trust
Heal the Ocean
League of Women Voters of California
Mel Nutter, Esq., former Coastal Commissioner
Natural Resources Defense Council
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Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara Women's Political Committee
Save the Bay
Sierra Club California
Smith River Alliance
Surfrider Foundation
The Ocean Foundation
The Otter Project
Trust for Public Land
WILDCOAST
Opposition
None on file
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Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092