BILL NUMBER: AB 2584 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bradford
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Section 557 316 to the
Public Utilities Code, relating to electrical corporations and gas
corporations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2584, as amended, Bradford. Electrical corporations and gas
corporations: unplanned service outages: retention of
evidence. investigations.
Under
(1) Under existing law, the
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over
public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas
corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt
inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement standards for the
distribution systems of electrical corporations in order to provide
high quality, safe, and reliable service. Existing law requires the
PUC to conduct a review to determine whether the standards have been
met and to perform the review after every major outage.
This bill would require every electrical corporation and gas
corporation that has an unplanned service outage resulting
from an accident, natural event, or caused by the unplanned act of a
utility employee, to preserve and not dispose of any materials that
evidence the cause of the unplanned outage for 5 business days
following the unplanned outage. The bill would provide that where
evidence is required to be altered in order to restore utility
service or to protect the public safety, the electrical corporation
or gas corporation is required to identify those utility facilities
that have been altered and preserve those materials that are
unnecessary to restoration of service or protection of the public
safety to cooperate fully with the PUC in an
investigation into any major accident or any reportable incident
regardless of pending litigation or other investigations, including,
but not limited to, those that may be related to a PUC investigation.
The bill would require every electrical corporation and gas
corporation to provide the PUC, upon its request, immediate access to
specified documents. The bill would require every electrical
corporation and gas corporation to preserve any and all documents it
collects as part of its own investigation related to the
incident for at least 5 years .
Under
(2) Under existing law, a
violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule,
direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because the provisions of this bill are within the act, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
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.
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. Section 316 is added to the
Public Utilities Code , to read:
316. (a) Each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall
cooperate fully with the commission in an investigation into any
major accident or any reportable incident regardless of pending
litigation or other investigations, including, but not limited to,
those that may be related to a commission investigation.
(b) After the scene of the incident has been made safe and service
has been restored, each electrical corporation and gas corporation
shall provide the commission, upon its request, immediate access to
all of the following:
(1) Any factual or physical evidence under the electrical
corporation's or gas corporation's, or its agent's, physical control,
custody, or possession related to the incident.
(2) The name and contact information of any known percipient
witness.
(3) Any employee percipient witness under the electrical
corporation's or gas corporation's control.
(4) The name and contact information of any person or entity that
has taken possession of any physical evidence removed from the site
of the incident.
(5) Any and all documents under the electrical corporation's or
gas corporation's control that are related to the incident and are
not subject to attorney-client privilege or attorney work product
doctrine.
(c) Each electrical corporation and gas corporation shall preserve
any and all documents it collects as part of its own investigation
related to the incident for at least five years.
SECTION 1. Section 557 is added to the Public
Utilities Code, to read:
557. Every electrical corporation and gas corporation that has an
unplanned service outage resulting from an accident, natural event,
or caused by the unplanned act of a utility employee, for five
business days following the unplanned outage, shall preserve and not
dispose of any materials that evidence the cause of the unplanned
outage. Where materials or evidence are required to be altered in
order to restore utility service or to protect the public safety, the
utility shall identify those utility facilities that have been
altered and preserve those materials or evidence that are unnecessary
to restoration of service or protection of the public safety. The
duty to preserve evidence of unplanned outages pursuant to this
section is inapplicable when, during the five-day period, the
commission notifies the utility that it has concluded any
investigation it intends to conduct as to the reasons for the outage.
SEC. 2. 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.