BILL NUMBER: AB 42 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2009
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.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 42, as amended, Blakeslee. Electricity: Pacific Gas and
Electric Company: seismic fault.
(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 the Energy Commission, on or before
April 1, 2010, in a public hearing and in consultation with the
California Geologic Survey, Seismic Safety Commission, and California
Coastal Commission, to determine what, if any, seismic fault and
other hazard or vulnerability studies or surveys are urgently needed
for the area at or near the Diablo Canyon Nuclear
Powerplant. The bill would require the Pacific Gas
and Electric Company to 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 conduct those seismic fault
and other hazard or vulnerability studies or surveys at or near the
vicinity of the Diable Canyon Nuclear Powerplant that are deemed
urgent by the Energy Commission . Because a violation of this
requirement would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program. The Energy bill would require t he
Commission would be required to ,in
consultation with the California Geologic Survey, Seismic Safety
Commission, and California Coastal Commission, conduct or
facilitate a peer review of any fault studies or surveys
conducted pursuant to that requirement within 120 days of
receipt of a final study or survey . The Public
Utilities Commission would be required to allow bill
would require the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to fully
recover costs from all of their electrical customers for
investments in fault studies and seismic retrofits ,
in its electricity procurement rates, all reasonable costs associated
with any studies, surveys, or peer review required 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.
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. 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 that Energy Commission assessment in its own
work.
(c) The 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 Tokyo 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. Section 565 is added to the 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
565. (a) (1)
On or before April 1, 2010, in a public hearing and in
consultation with the California Geologic Survey, Seismic Safety
Commission, and California Coastal Commission, the Energy Commission
shall determine what, if any, seismic fault and other hazard or
vulnerability studies or surveys are urgently needed for the area at
or near the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Powerplant. The determination shall
be made in furtherance of the responsibilities of 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 or other catastrophic event.
(2) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall conduct those seismic
fault and other hazard or vulnerability studies or surveys at or near
the vicinity of the Diable Canyon Nuclear Powerplant that are deemed
urgent by the Energy Commission pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) The commission shall consider any seismic fault and other
hazard or vulnerability studies or surveys required pursuant to this
subdivision in its review of Pacific Gas and Electric Company's
license renewal application required by the commission in Decision
07-03-044. The commission shall extend the June 30, 2011, application
deadline, order number 11 in Decision 07-03-044, if the commission
finds, upon petition or other application by Pacific Gas and Electric
Company, that an extension is necessary to complete the studies or
surveys or to allow the Energy Commission to complete a per review
complete peer review pursuant to subdivision (b).
(4) The Energy Commission, in consultation with the California
Geologic Survey, Seismic Safety Commission, and California Coastal
Commission, may participate in the development of study or survey
designs.
(b) (1) The Energy Commission shall conduct
, in consultation with the California Geologic Survey, Seismic
Safety Commission, and California Coastal Commission, shall conduct
or facilitate a peer review of any studies conducted
pursuant to subdivision (a) or surveys conducted
pursuant to subdivision (a) within 120 days of receipt of a final
study or survey .
(2) The Energy Commission may enter into agreements with
academic and industry groups of qualified
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 or survey .
(3) The Energy Commission shall include the findings and
recommendations of the peer review of any fault study
any studies or surveys conducted pursuant to
subdivision (a) 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. , in its electricity procurement rates,
all reasonable costs associated with any studies or surveys required
pursuant to subdivision (a) and the peer review required pursuant to
subdivision (b).
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.