BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1514
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Steven Bradford, Chair
AB 1514 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 10, 2012
SUBJECT : Public works: excavations: violations
SUMMARY : This bill increases civil penalties for violations of
excavation laws and authorizes the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) to prescribe rules for public utilities that are conduct
subsurface operations and provide information to the State
Attorney General or local district attorney on matters involving
excavation violations. Specifically, this bill :
1)Implements a recommendation from the Independent Review Panel
Report on the San Bruno Explosion to give the PUC authority to
address violations of excavation by establishing damage
prevention rules.
2)Authorizes the commission to adopt rules requiring public
utilities that are operators, as defined, to comply with the
above-described requirements relative to excavations, and to
adopt rules to protect subsurface installations and
high-priority subsurface installations, as defined, from
damage resulting from excavations.
3)Increases the maximum amounts for civil penalties that may be
assessed for negligent or knowing and willful violations of
excavation laws.
4)Authorizes the PUC to provide information to the Attorney
General and the district attorney regarding violations of
excavation rules.
5)Requires the PUC to provide a summary of any damage reported
to the commission pursuant to subdivision (c) and of any
investigation in an annual report submitted to the Governor
and Legislature.
EXISTING LAW
1)Generally requires any person planning to conduct an
excavation to contact a regional notification center prior to
excavation, and, if practical, to delineate the areas to be
excavated.
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2)Authorizes the Attorney General, a district attorney, or the
state or a local agency that issued a permit to excavate to
bring an action for the enforcement of a civil penalty against
an operator or excavator who negligently or knowingly and
willfully violates these and related provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)According to the author, "When a backhoe hits an underground
power line or gas main what ensues can range from a simple
delay to a deadly occurrence. Despite the terrible risks
involved California lacks both data collection and liability
assessment. Perhaps the most alarming example in recent years
was the digging accident that that claimed 5 lives on November
9, 2004 in Walnut Creek. These are not mishaps. They are
full-blown emergencies. And they happen all too often.
Worse, even when such an accident results from the failure to
check with One-Call Centers, the state has a pretty poor track
record when it comes to investigating or prosecuting such
breaches. What we need is an improved process for
investigating and responding to incidents of underground
infrastructure damage.
2)Current law limits penalties for negligent excavation
violations to not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and
violations that are knowing and willful violations are limited
to no more than $50,000. This level of penalty may not be
providing a sufficient financial deterrent to potential
violators. This bill will establish a higher penalty, in the
event there is a second violation, in the amounts of $100,000
and $250,000, respectively.
3)Excavation violations can be reported to the Attorney General
or the local District Attorney for enforcement by any
individual, company, local government, utility, etc. This bill
will allow the PUC to also report excavation violations to the
enforcement agencies for prosecution.
4)California's One-Call Law requires any person planning to
conduct an excavation to contact a regional notification
center prior to excavation in order to reduce the potential
for damages and injuries during excavation activities. The
California One-Call program uses a graduated enforcement
program for violations of one-call excavation rules.
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5)The PUC normally undertakes the development and enforcement of
Governing Orders covering a wide range of safety and standard
procedures that are ordered on regulated utilities.
6)The current universe of excavation violations is not well
known. It is not clear how many times there are excavation
violation events, how extensive these events are with respect
to safety, and who is typically causing these events. Events
can be caused by many parties - utilities, private
contractors, homeowners, municipal governments, and state
government. This bill will authorize the PUC to collect and
compile this data and report it to the Legislature on an
annual basis.
7)This bill eliminates from current law the term negligence from
the type of violation that can result in a civil penalty. By
so doing, this would undo the State's established progressive
discipline for violations of the State's One-Call Program.
This language should not be removed as this could have the
unintended consequence of deterring someone from reporting
excavation or self-reporting violations. The author may wish
to consider removing this deletion.
8)The bill also establishes specific detail on the procedures
the PUC should adopt for obtaining information from public
utilities, which are subsurface operators and lists content
that should be included in an investigation report. The PUC
already has authority to collect any and all information it
deems that it needs under current law. The PUC can propose
the content of its investigation report through its rulemaking
to adopt excavation procedures. By so doing, the PUC will
provide an opportunity for stakeholders, including law
enforcement, to participate in what content would be
meaningful to include or not include. The author may wish to
consider deleting this language as it is not needed.
Specifically:
On Page 3, line 5, after 'excavator' undo deletion of: who
negligently violates
Delete language beginning on Page 5, line 16 through page 6,
line 4, inclusive:
(2) The commission shall adopt procedures for obtaining from
public utilities who are subsurface operators reports of
violations of Article 2 (commencing with Section 4216) of
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Chapter 3.1 of Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code
that the commission determines should be investigated as an
enforcement action pursuant to Section 4216.6 of the
Government Code, including procedures regarding which
violations are required to be immediately reported. The
procedures shall require reporting of all pertinent
information necessary for the commission to thoroughly
investigate the complaint and prepare a complete investigation
report pursuant to subdivision (d).
(d) (1) Upon receipt of a report of violation pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), the commission shall
investigate the violation and prepare an investigation report
documenting any violation determined by the commission to
warrant possible enforcement pursuant to Section 4216.6 of the
Government Code.
An investigation report shall include, but not be limited to,
all of the following:
(A) The facts and evidence establishing the violation.
(B) A list of witnesses to the violation and contact
information for the witnesses.
(C) All contacts with or responses from the regional
notification center.
(D) Any excavation plans associated with the violations.
(2) The report shall be admissible as a public record in any
action brought pursuant to Section 4216.6 of the Government
Code or pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 7951)
of Division 4.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) (Sponsor)
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SGD&E) (if amended)
Sempra Energy utilities (SEu) (if amended)
Southern California Edison (SCE)
Southern California Gas Company (if amended)
Opposition
California Chapter of the American Fence Association
California Fence Contractors' Association
Engineering Contractors' Association
Flasher Barricade Association
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (unless amended)
Marin Builders Association
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Analysis Prepared by : Susan Kateley / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083