BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session SB 1463 (Moorlach) - Electrical lines: mitigation of wildfire risks ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: April 19, 2016 |Policy Vote: E., U., & C. 9 - | | | 0, N.R. & W. 9 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: May 16, 2016 |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 1463 requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE), to prioritize areas in which communities are at high risk from the consequences of wildfires when determining areas which require enhanced mitigation measures for wildfire hazards posed by overhead electrical lines and equipment. The bill also requires the CPUC to develop a definition of "enhanced mitigation measures" in a specified proceeding. Fiscal Impact: A total of $582,000 (State Responsibility Area fee or General Fund) over two years for CalFIRE to assess map criteria, oversee Fire Threat Map revision, and validate the map against known electrical utility fires. Minor costs to the CPUC (Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account) for initial prioritization efforts in the existing proceeding. SB 1463 (Moorlach) Page 1 of ? Background: 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 CalFIRE 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 CalFIRE 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 CalFIRE, electric utilities, communications utilities and providers and other stakeholders. 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 SB 1463 (Moorlach) Page 2 of ? 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 CalFIRE 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. Proposed Law: This bill: Requires the CPUC, in consultation with CalFIRE, to prioritize areas in which communities are at high risk from the consequences of wildfires when determining areas which require enhanced mitigation measures for wildfire hazards posed by SB 1463 (Moorlach) Page 3 of ? overhead electrical lines and equipment. Requires the CPUC to develop a definition of "enhanced mitigation measures" in Rulemaking 15-05-006 (Filed May 7, 2015), Order Instituting Rulemaking to Develop and Adopt Fire-Threat Maps and Fire-Safety Regulations, or in another appropriate proceeding. Requires that any findings supporting a decision to approve the boundaries for areas describe how the commission incorporated the concerns of local governments, fire departments, or both in determining those boundaries. Staff Comments: The fire prevention activities required in this bill would be eligible for use of SRA fee funds. However, staff notes that the legality of the SRA is being challenged in court. The committee may wish to consider this a General Fund. -- END --