BILL NUMBER: AB 42 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2009
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 Pacific Gas and Electric Company, in
furtherance of the recommendations made by 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 conduct those
seismic fault and other hazard or vulnerability
studies or surveys at or near the vicinity of the Diable
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Powerplant that
are deemed urgent by the Energy Commission nuclear
powerplant in order to maintain reliable operation of the electrical
grid and mitigate impacts to customer rates that could result from a
seismic event . Because a violation of this requirement would
be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The Energy bill would require the
Commission commission , in consultation with the
California Geologic Survey , and the
Seismic Safety Commission, and California Coastal
Commission, to 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 bill would require the Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
fund all costs associated with a peer review of any studies or
surveys and would require the commission to authorize the utility to
fully recover, 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
nuclear powerplant .
(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 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
nuclear powerplant 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) (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).
565. (a) (1) Pacific Gas and Electric Company
shall, 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, conduct seismic fault studies or
surveys, including, but not limited to, three-dimensional geophysical
seismic reflection mapping, for the area at or near the Diablo
Canyon nuclear powerplant, in order to maintain reliable operation of
the electrical grid and mitigate impacts to customer rates that
could result from a seismic event. Pacific Gas and Electric Company
shall seek funding for the studies or surveys in its application to
the commission for license renewal of the Diablo Canyon nuclear
powerplant, in compliance with commission Decision 07-03-044.
(4)
(2) The Energy Commission, in consultation with the
California Geologic Survey , Seismic Safety Commission, and
California Coastal and the Seismic Safety
Commission, may participate in the development of study or survey
designs.
(b) (1) The Energy Commission , in consultation with the
California Geologic Survey , Seismic Safety Commission, and
California Coastal and the Seismic Safety
Commission, shall conduct or facilitate a peer review of any studies
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 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 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.
(4) Pacific Gas and Electric Company shall be responsible for
funding all costs associated with a peer review of any studies or
surveys conducted pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) The commission shall allow Pacific Gas and Electric Company to
fully recover , 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). The commission shall expedite issuance of its decision
approving the recovery of costs as specified in this section, so that
the decision is made within 120 days of filing the application.
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.