BILL NUMBER: SB 1083 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Allen
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
An act to amend Section 8574.7 of the Government Code, relating to
oil spills.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1083, as introduced, Allen. California oil spill contingency
plan.
The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act
generally requires the administrator for oil spill response, acting
at the direction of the Governor, to implement activities relating to
oil spill response, including emergency drills and preparedness, and
oil spill containment and cleanup, and to represent the state in any
coordinated response efforts with the federal government. Existing
law directs the Governor to require the administrator to amend, not
in conflict with the National Contingency Plan, the California oil
spill contingency plan to provide for the best achievable protection
of waters of the state and to include specified elements.
This bill would require a communications element, as specified, to
be developed by the administrator and included in the California oil
spill contingency plan.
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. Section 8574.7 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
8574.7. The Governor shall require the administrator, not in
conflict with the National Contingency Plan, to amend the California
oil spill contingency plan to provide for the best achievable
protection of waters of the state. "Administrator" for purposes of
this section means the administrator appointed by the Governor
pursuant to Section 8670.4. The plan shall consist of all of the
following elements:
(a) A state response element that specifies the hierarchy for
state and local agency response to an oil spill. The element shall
define the necessary tasks for the oversight and control
of cleanup and removal activities associated with an oil spill and
shall specify each agency's particular responsibility in carrying out
these tasks. The element shall also include an organizational chart
of the state oil spill response organization and a definition of the
resources, capabilities, and response assignments of each agency
involved in cleanup and removal actions in an oil spill.
(b) A regional and local planning element that shall provide the
framework for the involvement of regional and local agencies in the
state effort to respond to an oil spill,
spill and shall ensure the effective and efficient use of
regional and local resources, as appropriate, in all of the
following:
(1) Traffic and crowd control.
(2) Firefighting.
(3) Boating traffic control.
(4) Radio and communications control and the provision
of access to equipment.
(5) Identification and use of available local and regional
equipment or other resources suitable for use in cleanup and removal
actions.
(6) Identification of private and volunteer resources or personnel
with special or unique capabilities relating to oil spill cleanup
and removal actions.
(7) Provision of medical emergency services.
(8) Consideration of the identification and use of private working
craft and mariners, including commercial fishing vessels and
licensed commercial fishing men and women, in containment, cleanup,
and removal actions.
(c) A coastal protection element that establishes the state
standards for coastline protection. The administrator, in
consultation with the Coast Guard and Navy and the shipping industry,
shall develop criteria for coastline protection. If appropriate, the
administrator shall consult with representatives from the States of
Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, Oregon;
the Province of British Columbia in Canada,
Canada; and the Republic of Mexico. The criteria shall
designate at least all of the following:
(1) Appropriate shipping lanes and navigational aids for tankers,
barges, and other commercial vessels to reduce the likelihood of
collisions between tankers, barges, and other commercial vessels.
Designated shipping lanes shall be located off the coastline at a
distance sufficient to significantly reduce the likelihood that
disabled vessels will run aground along the coast of the state.
(2) Ship position reporting and communications requirements.
(3) Required predeployment of protective equipment for sensitive
environmental areas along the coastline.
(4) Required emergency response vessels that are capable of
preventing disabled tankers from running aground.
(5) Required emergency response vessels that are capable of
commencing oil cleanup operations before spilled oil can reach the
shoreline.
(6) An expedited decisionmaking process for dispersant use in
coastal waters. Prior to adoption of the process, the administrator
shall ensure that a comprehensive testing program is carried out for
any dispersant proposed for use in California marine waters. The
testing program shall evaluate the toxicity and
effectiveness of the dispersants.
(7) Required rehabilitation facilities for wildlife injured by
spilled oil.
(8) An assessment of how activities that usually require a permit
from a state or local agency may be expedited or issued by the
administrator in the event of an oil spill.
(d) An environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas element
that shall provide the framework for prioritizing and ensuring the
protection of environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas. The
environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas element shall be
developed by the administrator, in conjunction with appropriate local
agencies, and shall include all of the following:
(1) Identification and prioritization of environmentally and
ecologically sensitive areas in state waters and along the coast.
Identification The identification and
prioritization of environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas
shall not prevent or excuse the use of all reasonably available
containment and cleanup resources from being used to protect every
environmentally and ecologically sensitive area possible.
Environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas shall be prioritized
through the evaluation of criteria, including, but not limited to,
all of the following:
(A) Risk of contamination by oil after a spill.
(B) Environmental, ecological, recreational, and economic
importance.
(C) Risk of public exposure should the area be contaminated.
(2) Regional maps depicting environmentally and ecologically
sensitive areas in state waters or along the coast that shall be
distributed to facilities and local and state agencies. The maps
shall designate those areas that have a particularly high
priority for protection against oil spills.
(3) A plan for protection actions required to be taken in the
event of an oil spill for each of the environmentally and
ecologically sensitive areas and protection priorities for the first
24 to 48 hours after an oil spill shall be specified.
(4) The location of available response equipment and the
availability of trained personnel to deploy the equipment to protect
the priority environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas.
(5) A program for systemically testing and revising, if necessary,
protection strategies for each of the priority environmentally and
ecologically sensitive areas.
(6) Any recommendations for action that cannot be financed or
implemented pursuant to existing authority of the
administrator, which administrator. Those
recommendations shall also be reported to the Legislature along
with recommendations for financing those actions.
(e) A reporting element that requires the reporting of spills of
any amount of oil in or on state waters.
(f) A communications element that shall provide the framework for
efficient and timely communications within the unified command;
between local, state, and federal agencies; and with the public. This
element shall be developed by the administrator with feedback from
local agencies and shall establish all of the following:
(1) A process for developing and maintaining a database of local
public information officers in each coastal county.
(2) A process to ensure timely and accurate information is
provided to the news media and social media consistent with both of
the following:
(A) For incidents in which a unified command structure is put in
place and for which a joint information center is established,
personnel from the responsible party shall not serve as the initial
information officer, the lead public information officer, or the
joint information center manager.
(B) Personnel from the responsible party shall not have a role in
the development, review, or approval of draft news releases or other
material created on behalf of the unified command for the purpose of
communicating with the public.
(3) A mechanism to ensure critical information from local agencies
or local nongovernmental organizations can be shared with relevant
members of the unified command.
(4) A process for early community outreach in affected areas that
ensures the public has up-to-date and timely information on the oil
spill, including a protocol for informing each community, city,
county, and city and county of the name of the responsible party and
of the right of affected parties to file claims against the
responsible party.