BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 578 (Hill) - Public utilities: natural gas pipelines: safety
Amended: May 30, 2012 Policy Vote: EU&C 10-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 16, 2012
Consultant: Marie Liu/Bob Franzoia
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: AB 578 would require the California Public
Utilities Commission (PUC) to formally respond to certain safety
recommendations concerning gas pipeline safety made by the
federal National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and federal
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
Fiscal Impact: On-going costs of $130,000 annually from the
Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account,
beginning in 2013-14 for staff to respond to NTSB safety
recommendations and PHMSA advisory bulletins.
Background: The NTSB is the federal agency charged with
determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and
promoting transportation safety in aviation, highway, marine,
pipeline, and railroad transportation modes. The NTSB also
investigates accidents related to the transportation of
hazardous materials. In an accident investigation, the NTSB will
often make recommendations to the parties involved in the
accident (gas utility, local first responders, and regulatory
agencies).
Federal law requires the US Department of Transportation to
respond to safety recommendations made by the NTSB within 90
days of receipt and indicate the Secretary's intended actions as
a result of the recommendations.
Proposed Law: This bill would require the PUC to provide the
NTSB with a formal written response to any safety recommendation
concerning pipeline safety made directly to the PUC. Also, the
PUC would be required to determine whether it should implement
any NTSB safety recommendations made to the US Department of
Transportation, PHMSA, PUC, or a gas corporation or a PHMSA
AB 578 (Hill)
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advisory bulletin regarding gas pipeline facilities. The
determination must be approved by a majority vote of the PUC.
Any actions taken by the PUC regarding a safety recommendation
letter or advisory bulletin must be reported annually to the
Legislature.
Staff Comments: As a result of the NTSB's investigation of the
natural gas transmission line rupture in San Bruno, NTSB issued
39 safety recommendations to the US Department of
Transportation, PHMSA, PG&E, PUC, Governor Brown, and the
American Gas Association. If this bill was already law, the PUC
would have had to respond to all of these recommendations.
Excluding the San Bruno accident, since the 2000, there has been
zero to two applicable recommendations issued on natural gas
pipeline accidents each year. The PUC estimates that this
workload would result in approximately $160,000 in staffing
costs (half an administrative law judge and half a regulatory
analyst) to respond and determine appropriate implementation of
recommendations.