BILL NUMBER: AB 42 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Blakeslee
DECEMBER 1, 2008
An act to add Section 565 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to electricity, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 42, as amended, Blakeslee. Electricity: Pacific Gas and
Electric Company: seismic fault: survey.
fault.
Under
(1) Under existing law, the
Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public
utilities including electrical corporations, as defined.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) to conduct various
assessments and forecasts on energy industry supply, production,
transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices.
This bill would require Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
utilize the Energy Commission to conduct a three-dimensional
imaging survey to map the fault characteristics in the vicinity of
the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant that could potentially disrupt
the reliable operation of the electrical grid and impact customer
rates as a result of a seismic event seek funding for
seismic fault studies and seismic retrofits in order to maintain
reliable operation of the electrical grid and reduce impacts to
customer rates as a result of a seismic event. Because a violation of
this requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program. The Energy Commission would be required
to conduct a peer review of any fault studies conducted pursuant to
that requirement. The Public Utilities Commission would be required
to allow Pacific Gas and Electric Company to fully recover costs from
all of their electrical customers for investments in fault studies
and seis mic retrofits pursuant to the bill .
(2) 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.
(3) This bill would state the findings and declarations of the
Legislature concerning the need for special legislation.
(4) This bill would declare that it is to
take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) In issuing decision 07-03-044, the Public Utilities Commission
authorized an expenditure of sixteen million eight hundred thousand
dollars ($16,800,000) of ratepayer funds to explore the feasibility
of relicensing the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
(b) The Public Utilities Commission, regarding the expenditure of
those funds, said that Pacific Gas and Electric Company should defer,
to the extent feasible, its work, its own study, and associated
spending, until after the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Energy Commission) issues its findings and
conclusions pursuant to Chapter 722 of the Statutes of 2006
, and that Pacific Gas and Electric Company should incorporate
the findings and recommendations of the that
Energy Commission study assessment
in its own work.
(c) The Energy Commission's recommendations from its
study assessment made pursuant to Chapter 722 of the
Statutes of 2006 included several findings and recommendations; in
particular, the Energy Commission found that Pacific
Gas and Electric Company should use three-dimensional geophysical
seismic reflection mapping and other advanced techniques to explore
fault zones near Diablo Canyon.
(d) The July 2007 magnitude 6.8 Japan Sea earthquake located 16
kilometers from Toyota Electric Power Company's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
Nuclear Power Plant shut down the facility at a cost of some hundreds
of millions of dollars per month.
(e) In November 2008, the United States Geological Survey
identified a previously unidentified offshore fault approximately one
kilometer west of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant with an
estimated ability to generate a magnitude 6.5 earthquake.
SEC. 2. (a) Pacific Gas and Electric Company
shall utilize the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission to conduct a three-dimensional imaging survey to map the
fault characteristics in the vicinity of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear
Power Plant that could potentially disrupt the reliable operation of
the electrical grid and impact customer rates as a result of a
seismic event. The imaging survey shall be used to identify any
facility retrofits necessary to avoid potential adverse impacts of a
seismic event on the reliability of the electrical grid.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
appropriate sixteen million eight hundred thousand dollars
($16,800,000) authorized by the Public Utilities Commission for the
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant relicensing feasibility study, to
pay for the survey.
SEC. 2. Section 565 is added to t he
Public Utilities Code , to read:
565. (a) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall seek funding for
seismic fault studies and seismic retrofits, deemed urgent by the
Energy Commission or the Seismic Safety Commission, in furtherance of
the recommendations made by the Energy Commission pursuant to
paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 25303 of the Public
Resources Code, in order to maintain reliable operation of the
electrical grid and reduce impacts to customer rates as a result of a
seismic event.
(b) (1) The Energy Commission shall conduct a peer review of any
studies conducted pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) The Energy Commission may enter into agreements with academic
and industry groups of scientists with expertise in fault imaging and
character and behavior studies to conduct an external scientific
peer review of the scientific basis for any fault study.
(3) The Energy Commission shall include the findings and
recommendations of the peer review of any fault study in the
integrated energy policy report as updates pursuant to subparagraph
(D) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 25303 of the
Public Resources Code.
(c) The commission shall allow Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
fully recover costs from all of their electrical customers for
investments in fault studies and seismic retrofits pursuant to this
section.
SEC. 3. 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.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that a
special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution because of unique circumstances pertaining to
Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
SEC. 3. SEC. 5. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In order to complete a seismic study , and perform seismic
retrofits, relating to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant as
soon as possible in order to protect electricity customers, it is
necessary that this act take effect immediately.