BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2739
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2739 (Blakeslee)
As Amended May 28, 2010
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-1
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Gilmore, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, Ammiano, |
| |Brownley, | |Bradford, Charles Calderon, |
| |De Leon, Hill, Huffman, | |Coto, Davis, Harkey, |
| |Knight, Logue, Skinner | |Miller, Monning, Nielsen, |
| | | |Norby, Ruskin, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+----------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Skinner |
| | | | |
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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. Specifically, this
bill :
1)In consultation with the appropriate federal agencies, 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 threat.
AB 2739
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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.
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 SPR 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has one-time costs in fiscal year 2011-12 to
the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), in the range of $100,000 to
$250,000, to develop a plan for imminent threat assessment and
strategic response. (Oil Spill Prevention and Administration
Fund.) This bill will also result in cost pressure of an unknown
amount to conduct imminent threat assessments based on information
contained in the plan developed pursuant to this bill. DFG
reports that an actual imminent threat assessment could cost as
much as $1 million.
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
AB 2739
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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 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0004724