AB 1937, as amended, Gordon. Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011: school and hospital notification ofbegin insert nonemergencyend insert excavationbegin insert orend insert construction of gas pipelines.
Existing federal law requires the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) within the United States Department of Transportation, to adopt minimum safety standards for pipeline transportation and for pipeline facilities, including an interstate gas pipeline facility and intrastate gas pipeline facility, as defined. Existing law authorizes the United States Secretary of Transportation to prescribe or enforce safety standards and practices for an intrastate pipeline facility or intrastate pipeline transportation to the extent that the safety standards and practices are regulated by a state authority that submits to the secretary annually a certification for the facilities and transportation. Existing law authorizes a state authority that has submitted a current certification to adopt additional or more stringent safety standards for intrastate pipeline facilities and intrastate pipeline transportation only if those standards are compatible with the minimum standards prescribed by the PHMSA.
The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011, within the Public Utilities Act, designates the Public Utilities Commission as the state authority responsible for regulating and enforcing intrastate gas pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities pursuant to federal law, including the development, submission, and administration of a state pipeline safety program certification for natural gas pipelines. The act requires the commission, by July 1, 2012, to open an appropriate proceeding or expand the scope of an existing proceeding to establish compatible emergency response standards that owners or operators of certain commission-regulated gas pipeline facilities would be required to follow. The standards require owners or operators of intrastate transmission and distribution lines to implement emergency response plans that are compatible with PHMSA’s regulations concerning emergency plans.
This bill would require a gas corporation to provide not less than 3 working days’ notice, as specified, to the administration of a school or hospital prior to undertakingbegin insert nonemergencyend insert excavationbegin insert orend insert construction of a gas pipeline when the work is located within 500 feet of the school or hospital. The bill would require the gas corporation to maintain a record of the date and time of any notification provided to the administration of a school or hospitalbegin insert prior to undertaking nonemergency excavation or construction of a gas pipelineend insert and any subsequent contacts with the administrationbegin insert of a school or hospital relative to the excavation or constructionend insert andbegin insert theend insert actions taken, if any, in response to those subsequent contacts.
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 requirements of this bill are within the act, a violation of these requirements 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 955.5 is added to the Public Utilities
2Code, to read:
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
4have the following meanings:
5(1) “Gas pipeline” means an intrastate distribution line as
6described in paragraph (1) of, or an intrastate transmission line as
7described in paragraph (2) of, Section 950.
8(2) “Hospital” means a licensed general acute care hospital as
9defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety
10Code.
11(3) “School” means a public or private preschool, elementary,
12or secondary school.
13(b) A gas
corporation shall provide not less than three working
14days’ notice to the administration of a school or hospital prior to
15undertakingbegin insert nonemergency end insert excavationbegin insert orend insert construction of a gas
16pipeline if the work is located within 500 feet of the school or
17hospital. The notification shall include all of the following:
18(1) The name, address, telephone number, and emergency
19contact information for the gas corporation.
20(2) The specific location of the gas pipeline where thebegin insert excavation
21or end insert construction
will be performed.
22(3) The date and time thebegin insert excavation orend insert construction is to be
23conducted and when the work is expected to be completed.
24(4) An invitation and a telephone number to call for further
25information on what the school or hospital should do in the event
26of a leak.
27(c) The gas corporation shall maintain a record of the date and
28time of any notification provided to the administration of a school
29or hospitalbegin insert prior to undertaking nonemergency excavation or
30construction of a gas pipelineend insert and any subsequent contacts with
31the
administrationbegin insert of a school or hospital relative to the excavation
32or end insertbegin insertconstruction end insertandbegin insert theend insert actions taken, if any, in response to those
33subsequent contacts.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
35Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
36the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
37district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
38infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
P4 1for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
2the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
3the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
4Constitution.
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