BILL NUMBER: SB 1049 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 11, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill
FEBRUARY 12, 2016
An act to amend Section 316 of the Public Utilities Code, relating
to energy public utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1049, as amended, Hill. Electrical corporations and gas
corporations: accident investigations.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations
and gas corporations. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011
requires each gas corporation to develop a plan, as specified, for
the safe and reliable operation of its commission-regulated gas
pipeline facility, as defined. Existing law requires the commission
to adopt inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement standards
for the distribution systems of electrical corporations in order to
provide high quality high-quality ,
safe, and reliable service. Existing law requires every electrical
corporation to cooperate fully with the commission in an
investigation into any major accident or any reportable incident, as
defined by the commission, concerning overhead electric supply
facilities, regardless of pending litigation or other investigations,
including those that may be related to a commission investigation.
Existing law requires every electrical corporation
corporation, after the scene of the incident has
been made safe and service has been restored, to provide the
commission, upon its request, immediate access to specified
evidence, information, and documents, including any and all
documents under the electrical corporation's control that are related
to the incident and are not subject to attorney-client privilege or
attorney work product doctrine.
This bill would require every electrical corporation to cooperate
fully with the commission in an investigation into any major accident
or any reportable incident concerning any electric supply
facilities, rather than only overhead electric supply facilities. The
bill would require every gas corporation to cooperate fully
with the commission in an investigation into any major accident or
any reportable incident concerning commission-regulated gas pipeline
facilities, regardless of pending litigation or other investigations.
The bill would require each electrical corporation and gas
corporation, after the scene of the incident has been made safe and,
in the case of a major outage, service has been restored, to provide
the commission, upon request, with access to all measurements of
every utility instrumentality or facility in the vicinity of the
incident, all calculations regarding every instrumentality or
facility in the vicinity of the incident, any analysis regarding the
cause, or causes, of the incident, and any recording or paraphrasing
of any statement by a witness. make the
above-described requirements that are currently applicable to an
electrical corporation additionally applicable to gas corporations,
but would permit all of these corporations to postpone commission
access to the specified evidence, information, and documents until
after service restoration only in the case of a major outage. The
bill would provide that facts, information, or documents that
concern, discuss, or analyze an accident or a failure involving
electrical corporation or gas corporation facilities, but that
themselves are not privileged or subject to the attorney work product
doctrine, may not be withheld from the commission on the basis that
they are or were referenced or discussed in a communication with
counsel or incorporated into an attorney's work product.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any
order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the
commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and
because a violation of an order or decision of the commission
implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose
a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 316 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
316. (a) Each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall
cooperate fully with the commission in an investigation into any
major accident or any reportable incident, as these terms are defined
by the commission, concerning electric supply facilities and
commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities, regardless of pending
litigation or other investigations, including, but not limited to,
those that may be related to a commission investigation.
(b) After the scene of the incident has been made safe and, in the
case of a major outage, service has been restored, each electrical
corporation and gas corporation shall provide the commission, upon
its request, immediate access to all of the following:
(1) Any factual or physical evidence under the electrical or gas
corporation's, or its agent's, physical control, custody, or
possession related to the incident.
(2) The name and contact information of any known percipient
witness.
(3) Any employee percipient witness under the electrical or gas
corporation's control.
(4) The name and contact information of any person or entity that
has taken possession of any physical evidence removed from the site
of the incident.
(5) Each and every measurement of every utility instrumentality or
facility in the vicinity of the incident. Historical, as well as
post-incident measurements, shall be produced. Measurements of
instrumentalities or facilities not owned by the utility shall also
be produced, if those measurements are available.
(6) Each and every calculation regarding every instrumentality or
facility in the vicinity of the incident. Historical, as well as
postincident, calculations shall be produced.
(7) Each and every analysis regarding the cause, or causes, of the
incident. Each analysis shall be produced regardless of whether
identified as a root cause analysis, a causal evaluation, a failure
analysis, a storm register, or identified in some other manner.
(8) Each and every recording or paraphrasing of any statement by a
witness.
(9)
(5) Any and all documents under the electrical or gas
corporation's control that are related to the incident and are not
subject to attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product
doctrine. Facts, information, or documents that concern,
discuss, or analyze an accident or a failure involving utility
facilities, but that themselves are not privileged or subject to the
attorney work product doctrine, may not be withheld from the
commission on the basis that they are or were referenced or discussed
in a communication with counsel or incorporated into an
attorney's work product.
(c) Each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall preserve
any and all documents or evidence it collects as part of its own
investigation related to the incident for at least five years or a
shorter period of time as authorized by the commission.
(d) Any and all documents collected by an electrical corporation
or gas corporation pursuant to this section shall be catalogued and
preserved in an accessible manner for assessment by commission
investigators as determined by the commission.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.