BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1463 Hearing Date: April 12,
2016
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|Author: |Moorlach | | |
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|Version: |April 6, 2016 Amended |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|William Craven |
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Subject: Electrical lines: mitigation of wildfire risks
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1. Provides that the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC)
has regulatory authority over public utilities, including
electric corporations. (California Constitution, Article 3 and
4)
2. Requires the CPUC to develop formal procedures to incorporate
safety in a rate case application by an electrical corporation
or gas corporations. (Public Utilities Code §750)
3. Establishes the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in order
to classify lands in the state where a very high fire hazard is
present so that public officials are able to identify and adopt
measures to mitigate against fire risk. (Government Code §51175)
4. Government Code Section 51177 requires the Director of the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to evaluate fire
hazard severity in local responsibility areas and to make a
recommendation to the local jurisdiction where very high Fire
Hazard Severity Zones exist. The Government Code then provides
direction for the local jurisdiction to take appropriate action.
Such designations are not required to be considered by the CPUC.
5. Establishes the California Emergency Services Act and
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provides that the state is recognized with responsibility to
mitigate the effects of natural, manmade, or war-caused
emergencies that result in conditions of disaster or in extreme
peril to life, property, and the resources of the state,
generally to protect the health and safety and preserve the
lives and property of the people of the state. Confers on the
Governor to provide state assistance and emergency programs.
(Government Code §8550)
CPUC efforts to address wildfires. As set forth by the Senate
Energy and Utilities Committee which heard this bill on April 5,
a series of large wildfires ignited and burned hundreds of
thousands of acres in several counties in Southern California in
2007. The fires displaced nearly one million residents,
destroyed thousands of homes, and took the lives of ten people
and an additional seven who died from evacuating or from fire
related causes. These fires included the Witch Fire, one of the
nation's most damaging, which was ignited by power lines. After
the 2007 fires ravaged several areas of the state, in 2008, the
CPUC initiated rulemaking proceeding to address fires related to
utility poles. The CPUC's efforts have resulted in additional
requirements on utilities to reduce the likelihood of fires
started by or threatening utility facilities, including improved
vegetation management, as well as, requiring the utilities to
develop electric utility fire prevention plans. The first phase
also adopted fire hazard maps of high-risk areas in Southern
California. In May 2015, the CPUC opened a new rulemaking
proceeding to develop and adopt fire-threat maps and fire-safety
regulations (R. 15-05-006). The CPUC tasked CAL FIRE to oversee
and select outside experts to develop a more refined statewide
fire hazard map. As noted in the Scoping Memo, the fire-threat
map will be based on approximately 150 terabytes of fire-weather
data, which will be used to run millions of fire simulations to
build a high resolution, statewide fire-treat map. The CPUC and
CAL FIRE have conducted workshops to solicit feedback on the
draft map. After a couple of delays, a final map was issued on
February 12, 2016. Additionally, the CPUC has announced a safety
en banc related to utility pole safety on April 28, 2016 in Los
Angeles. The agenda for the en banc includes representatives
from CAL FIRE, electric utilities, communications utilities and
providers and other stakeholders.
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Laguna's experience with wildfire. On Friday, July 3, 2015, a
portion of Laguna Canyon area experienced a fire when falling
trees hit a power line on Arroyo Drive which sparked a fire on a
brush covered hillside along Laguna Canyon Road. With light
winds and air support, the fire was knocked down after burning
about 15 acres. Five aircraft and 150 firefighters were
deployed. Based on a local news story, the brush fire prompted
the Mayor to call for an all-out effort to underground utilities
citywide. According to the same Laguna Beach Indy newspaper
story, residents, motivated by improving views and lowering fire
risk, themselves have footed the bill to bury utility lines in
their own neighborhoods in 40 percent of the city, the public
works department estimates. According to a city statement, since
2007, at least four fires have been attributed to above-ground
electric utilities and been involved in 46 accidents along
Laguna Canyon Road, the city statement says. Laguna Beach has
also experienced one of the nation's costliest fires. In 1993 an
arsonist-caused fire burned 16,000 acres and destroyed or
severely damaged over 400 homes and caused $528 million dollars
in damage.
Mapping fire hazard and risk. The City of Laguna Beach submitted
comments into the proceeding to express the city's objections to
the map, particularly because the map places the city under the
lowest margins of the Utility Fire Threat index. The City of
Laguna Beach stated that the map has limitations and correcting
what appears to be the exclusion of key criteria that
artificially eliminates developed communities from high wildfire
risk categories, including housing density and local fire
history. The City points to a 2008 CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity
Zone Development map which designates 90 percent of the City in
a very high fire hazard severity zone. They also submitted
comments to request the CPUC explain how the map will be used
prior to adoption, so as to ensure utilities won't point to the
map and argued that communities, such as Laguna Beach, are not
at risk for wildfire.
As noted in the CPUC Scoping Memo after the initial map was
developed for Southern California, the task of developing a
state-of-the science fire-threat map has proven to be a
difficult challenge.
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PROPOSED LAW
As amended in Senate Energy and Utilities, this bill states that
in determining areas in which to require enhanced mitigation
measures for wildfire hazards posed by overhead electrical lines
and equipment, the PUC in consultation with the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall prioritize
areas in which communities are at risk from the consequences of
wildfire. Additionally, the bill provides that the PUC, in any
findings supporting a decision to approve the boundaries for
areas at risk from wildfire, shall describe how the PUC
incorporated the concerns of local governments, fire
departments, or both, in determining those boundaries.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, on February 2, 2016, the CPUC served
the final version of Fire Map 1. The City of Laguna Beach was
placed within the low-risk margins of the Utility Fire Threat
Index. However, 90% of the City of Laguna Beach falls within a
Very High Severity Zone on the CalFIRE Fire Resources and
Assessment Program (FRAP) map which takes into account variables
such as fire history, a measure that evaluates the cost and
consequence of fire and housing and population density. These
factors were left out of Fire Map 1's development. It is
essential that the Public Utilities Commission outline how Fire
Map 2 will be created by taking into account the concerns of
local governments and fire departments.
Laguna Beach is not alone with these wildfire problems or
dealing with the consequences of loss of life, property damage,
impacts on ecosystems, etc., when they savage their community.
There are many areas across the state which are also dealing
with these significant and persistent fire risks. If one of the
paramount responsibilities of government is to provide for
public safety, then the CPUC needs to properly consider their
issues and concerns when in consideration of developing future
electric line standards and mitigations.
The City of Laguna Beach, as the sponsor, believes that the bill
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will decrease the fire risk in the city and provide a check on
the maps developed by the PUC that may underestimate fire risk
from utility lines and poles.
The Rural County Representatives of California state that the
bill will help mitigate and prevent wildfires ignited by
electrical lines and equipment in those areas with exceptionally
high rates of tree mortality.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received.
COMMENTS
The only unresolved issue remaining after the Senate Energy
Committee amendments is to direct the PUC to develop a
definition of "enhanced mitigation measures" which is the first
suggested amendment.
As a technical suggestion, the author may want to wordsmith the
phrase "incorporated the concerns of local governments, fire
departments, or both" into something like "incorporated the
comments of the public including but not limited to local
governments and fire departments" if he is so inclined and
subject to the approval of the Senate Energy Committee.
Staff is informed that the one organization in opposition has
removed its opposition at the Senate Energy and Utilities
Committee meeting.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1
The commission, in its rulemaking in R. 15-05-006, or where
appropriate, shall develop a definition of "enhanced
mitigation measures" for purposes of this subdivision.
SUPPORT
City of Laguna Beach
Rural County Representatives of California
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OPPOSITION
None Received
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