BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2739
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 2739 (Blakeslee) - As Amended: April 8, 2010
SUBJECT : Oil spill prevention and response.
SUMMARY : Requires the Administrator of the Office of Oil Spill
Prevention and Response (OSPR) to prepare a sunken vessel
imminent threat assessment and strategic response plan.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Enacts the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and
Response Act (Act) to ensure rapid and appropriate clean-up
response to any oil spill along the California coast. The
Administrator of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response
within the Department of Fish and Game administers the Act.
2)Establishes the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund to be used to
clean up an oil spill if the responsible party is unknown or
not financially capable.
THIS BILL :
1)Requires the Administrator to develop a sunken vessel imminent
threat assessment and strategic response plan that:
a) Identifies any sunken vessel off the California coast
that:
i) Is within eight miles of the California coast;
ii) Is within 20 miles of a national marine sanctuary;
iii) There is no responsible party;
iv) Contained more than one million gallons of oil when
it sank;
v) Is likely to pose a threat to California waters and
shorelines, archaeological sites, and wildlife; and,
vi) Has not been classified as posing an imminent
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threat.
b) Outlines a strategic plan to:
i) Identify studies needed to determine whether an
imminent threat exists; and,
ii) Identify the recommended course of action for
monitoring the vessel if a threat exists, but is not
imminent.
2)By June 1, 2011, requires the Administrator to report the
findings to the Legislature.
3)Sunsets the bill's requirements on June 1, 2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown costs to OSPR for performing the threat
assessment.
COMMENTS : On July 14, 1953, a 468-foot freighter, the S.S.
Jacob Luckenbach, left San Francisco bound for Korea when it ran
into another ship and sank in 180 feet of water near the
Farallon Islands. The wreck came to rest 17 miles
west-southwest of San Francisco and contained 457,000 gallons of
bunker fuel. The sunken ship leaked oil sporadically for many
years, but was not directly linked to a major wildlife disaster
until 2002 when researchers investigating the Point Reyes
Tarball Incident of 1997-98 and the San Mateo Mystery Spill of
2001-02 determined that the chemical signature of oiled feathers
matched the oil in the Luckenbach. During the 1997-98 event,
almost three thousand birds were found washed up on beaches from
Sonoma to Monterey. Exhaustive models created by researchers at
Humboldt State University predicted that six times as many birds
actually died during the four month leak from the Luckenbach.
Both the Point Reyes Tarball Incident of 1997-98 and the San
Mateo Mystery Spill of 2001-02 occurred over a winter with many
strong storms. This evidence suggests that the Luckenbach leaked
substantially more oil when it was rocked on the seafloor by
major swells. After the significant loss of wildlife that
occurred during these events, several federal and state agencies
organized to conduct a natural resource damage assessment and to
determine how to alleviate this apparently chronic spill.
Divers from a marine consulting company have since removed
approximately 100,000 gallons of bunker oil from various pockets
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and compartments where it is trapped in the wreck. The remaining
oil cannot be safely removed and has been sealed inside. As
there is no remaining responsible party for the Luckenbach, the
approximately $20 million cost was paid from the federal Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund
Another ship, the S.S. Montebello, was sunk off the coast of
California on Dec. 23, 1941 during World War II. The vessel now
rests in federal waters, approximately six miles off the coast
of Moonstone Beach in Cambria. Prior to its sinking, the
Montebello loaded 73,571 barrels (3,089,982 gallons) of crude
oil and 2,477 barrels (104,034 gallons) of bunker fuel at Port
San Luis, California. The author notes that the Luckenbach case
involved Bunker C oil, and the Montebello was carrying heavy
crude oil. While the process of recovery would be similar, the
Montebello sits at a much greater depth and in much colder water
than the Luckenbach, which would make the task more difficult if
there is oil that must be extracted.
This bill would direct the Administrator to assess the risk
associated with the Montebello and other sunken vessels and
report to the Legislature on appropriate action for vessels that
do not pose an immediate threat. This bill does not specify the
actions required if the assessment identifies vessels that do
pose an imminent threat. The committee may wish to amend the
bill to include the following:
In the event that it is determined that an imminent threat
exists, notify the Office of Emergency Services in accordance
with section 8670.25.5 if the vessel is in state waters or
notify the appropriate federal agencies if located in federal
waters.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092