SB 1017 Senate Bill

BILL NUMBER: SB 1017	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 19, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 1, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 20, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to amend  Section 583 of, and to add Section 583.1
to,   Sections 583 and 1759 of  the Public
Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1017, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: public
availability of utility supplied  documents.  
documents: judicial review. 
   The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities
Commission with certain general authority over all public utilities,
including the authority to establish rules for all public utilities,
subject to control by the Legislature. The Public Utilities Act
prohibits the commission or an officer or employee of the commission
from disclosing any information furnished to the commission by a
public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or a corporation holding
a controlling interest in a public utility, unless the information is
specifically required to be open to public inspection under the act,
except on order of the commission or a commissioner in the course of
a hearing or proceeding. Existing law provides that any officer or
employee of the commission who divulges any such information is
guilty of a misdemeanor. 
   This bill would replace the provision that makes divulging this
information a misdemeanor, to instead provide, subject to certain
exceptions, that any present or former officer or employee of the
commission who divulges this information or information that is
prohibited from being released by any other state law or by federal
law, for monetary gain, for employment gain or advance, to place a
public utility that furnished the information at a competitive
disadvantage, or to provide a competitive advantage to another is
guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill would authorize the commission to
adopt rules providing for the disclosure of information furnished to
the commission by a public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or a
corporation holding a controlling interest in a public utility. The
bill would require the commission to develop rules consistent with
the California Public Records Act for the expeditious disclosure,
without the necessity of an order of the commission or a commissioner
in the course of a hearing or proceeding, of information related to
(1) public health and safety emergencies, (2) public, employee, and
contractor safety, and (3) environmental degradation caused by loss
of operational control by a public utility. The bill would prohibit
any document that is prohibited from being released by any other
state law or by federal law from being made open to the public or
being publicly released. 
   This bill would prohibit the commission or an officer or employee
of the commission from disclosing any information furnished to the
commission by a public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or a
corporation holding a controlling interest in a public utility,
unless the information is specifically required to be open to public
inspection by any provision of state or federal law, rather than only
by the Public Utilities Act, except on order of the commission or a
commissioner in the course of a hearing or proceeding. The bill would
require the commission to provide a party furnishing information to
the commission with notice and an opportunity to comment prior to the
information being made available for inspection or being made public
pursuant to this provision. The bill would require the commission,
by July 1, 2018, to adopt a written process for the disclosure or
publication of information furnished to the commission pursuant to
the Public Utilities Act. The bill would make a present or former
officer or employee of the commission guilty of a misdemeanor for
divulging information contrary to these provisions only if the
officer or employee knowingly and willfully makes the disclosure with
the knowledge that the information is not publicly disclosable, or
with the knowledge that a substantive provision of law required that
the information be kept confidential.  
   The California Constitution grants the Legislature plenary
authority, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to
establish the manner and scope of review of commission action in a
court of record. The Public Utilities Act provides that no court of
the state, except the Supreme Court and the court of appeal, has
jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or
decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution or
operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the
commission in the performance of its official duties.  
   This bill would authorize an action against the commission arising
under the California Public Records Act to be brought in the
superior court. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares that, pursuant to
Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the public
should have access to all public records of state entities and this
right should extend to public records of the Public Utilities
Commission.
  SEC. 2.  Section 583 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
   583.  (a)  (1)    No information
furnished to the commission by a public utility, or any business
which is a subsidiary or affiliate of a public utility, or a
corporation which holds a controlling interest in a public utility,
except those matters specifically required to be open to public
inspection by this part, shall be open to public inspection or made
public except on order  or rule  of the commission,
or by the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or
proceeding. 
   (2) No document shall be made open to the public or publicly
released that is prohibited from being released by any other state
law or by federal law.  
   (b) (1) Any present or former officer or employee of the
commission who, for monetary gain, for employment gain or advance, to
place a public utility that furnished the information at a
competitive disadvantage, or to provide a competitive advantage to
another, divulges any information that is prohibited from being
released pursuant to subdivision (a) is guilty of a misdemeanor.
 
   (2) It is not a crime to divulge information that is prohibited
from being publicly released pursuant to subdivision (a) to the
Bureau of State Audits as information relevant to a whistleblower
complaint or to share information with a state entity under a
memorandum of understanding that protects the confidentiality of the
information.  
   (b) The commission shall provide the party furnishing information
to the commission with notice and an opportunity to comment prior to
the information being made available for inspection or being made
public pursuant to subdivision (a).  
   (c) By July 1, 2018, the commission shall adopt a written process
for the disclosure or publication of information furnished to the
commission pursuant to this part.  
   (d) Any present or former officer or employee of the commission
who divulges information contrary to this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor, if the officer or employee knowingly and willfully makes
the disclosure with the knowledge that the information is not
publicly disclosable, or with the knowledge that a substantive
provision of law requires that the information be kept confidential.
 
  SEC. 3.    Section 583.1 is added to the Public
Utilities Code, to read:
   583.1.  (a) The commission shall develop rules consistent with the
California Public Records Act (Article 1 (commencing with Section
6250) of Chapter 3.5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code)
for the expeditious disclosure of information related to all of the
following:
   (1) Public health and safety emergencies.
   (2) Public, employee, and contractor safety.
   (3) Environmental degradation caused by loss of operational
control by a public utility.
   (b) Nothing in this part requires the commission to disclose
documents when the public interest served by not disclosing the
records clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of
the records.
   (c) Nothing in this part requires the commission to disclose
documents regarding utility employees, contract employees, or
individuals who generally have an objectively reasonable expectation
of privacy in which disclosure would constitute an unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy. 
   SEC. 3.    Section 1759 of the   Public
Utilities Code   is amended to read: 
   1759.  (a) No court of this state, except the Supreme Court and
the court of appeal, to the extent specified in this article, shall
have jurisdiction to review, reverse, correct, or annul any order or
decision of the commission or to suspend or delay the execution or
operation thereof, or to enjoin, restrain, or interfere with the
commission in the performance of its official duties, as provided by
law and the rules of court.
   (b) The writ of mandamus shall lie from the Supreme Court and from
the court of appeal to the commission in all proper cases as
prescribed in Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 
   (c) This section does not apply to an action arising from the
California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code). Such an
action may be brought in the superior court.