BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2677
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 2677 (Rodriguez) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Oil spill: contingency plan: railroad
SUMMARY : Requires, on or before January 1, 2017, the California
Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA), in consultation with
23 state agencies, interested stakeholders, relevant local
agencies, and any other potentially affected state, local, or
federal agency, to develop and submit to the Governor and the
Legislature a report containing recommendations for an oil spill
contingency plan designed to address inland oil spills resulting
from the transportation of crude oil by rail.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR)
within the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and requires
it to administer the state's oil spill prevention and
preparedness program, which includes, among other things,
announced and unannounced oil spill drills, review and
approval of oil spill contingency plans, and local government
response training and grants.
2)Establishes that OSPR has the primary authority to serve as a
state incident commander and direct removal, abatement,
response, containment, and cleanup efforts with regard to all
aspects of any placement of petroleum or a petroleum product
in the waters of the state. Defines "waters of the state" as
any surface water or groundwater, including saline waters,
within the boundaries of the state.
3)Requires the Governor to establish a state oil spill
contingency plan, which is referred to as the California Oil
Spill Contingency Plan (COSCP). Requires OSPR to submit to
the Governor and the Legislature an amended COSCP every three
years. Requires the COSCP to address oil spill contingency
planning for both marine and inland spills.
4)Created the Railroad Accident Prevention and Immediate
Deployment Force (RAPID) to provide immediate onsite response
capability in the case of large-scale releases of toxic
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materials resulting from surface transportation accidents,
such as train accidents. (RAPID has been inoperative since
its statutory fee authority was eliminated in 1995.)
THIS BILL :
1)Requires, on or before January 1, 2017, Cal EPA, in
consultation with the State Fire Marshal, interested
stakeholders, relevant local agencies, DFW, the State Air
Resources Board, the California Integrated Waste Management
Board, the California regional water quality control boards,
the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of
Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, the State Department of Public Health, the
California Highway Patrol, the Department of Food and
Agriculture, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Public Utilities
Commission, any other potentially affected state, local, or
federal agency, and the Office of Emergency Services, to
develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a
report containing recommendations for a comprehensive and
coordinated oil spill contingency plan designed to address
inland oil spills resulting from the transportation of crude
oil by rail.
2)In developing the report referenced above, requires Cal EPA to
consider which state or local agencies are best suited to
serve as the primary responder for inland oil spill response.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement. According to the Author:
The state should develop a comprehensive report to
ensure various agencies have a coordinated contingency
plan on how to address inland oil spills from rail
accidents. The report should consider which state or
local agencies are best suited to serve as the primary
responder for inland oil spills. In addition, The
report should ensure that state and local plans are
developed in concert with affected federal agencies to
not only improve coordination at the federal level,
but also to ensure the State does not adopt procedures
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or regulations that may be preempted by federal law
through either the Federal Railroad Administration or
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration.
2)OSPR is the Expert on Oil Spill Contingency Plans . State law
establishes that OSPR has the primary authority to serve as a
state incident commander and direct removal, abatement,
response, containment, and cleanup efforts with regard to all
aspects of any placement of petroleum or a petroleum product
in the waters of the state (Fish and Game Code � 5655).
"Waters of the state" means any surface water or groundwater,
including saline waters, within the boundaries of the state
(Water Code � 13050).
With regard to oil spill planning, state law requires the
Governor to establish a state oil spill contingency plan.
OSPR is required to submit to the Governor and the Legislature
an amended COSCP every three years. The COSCP must address
oil spill contingency planning for both marine and inland
spills (Government Code �8574.8).
The COSCP establishes a comprehensive Incident Command System
(ICS). As shown in the flowchart below (found here on page 6:
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=67820&inlin
e=true), the "Unified Command" takes the lead role in an oil
spill. The Unified Command consists of the federal on-scene
coordinator (FOSC), the state on-scene coordinator (SOSC), and
the responsible party in command (RPIC). Depending on the
location of the oil spill, the FOSC is either the Coast Guard
or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In general, OSPR
is the SOSC for marine and off-highway inland spills. As the
name suggests, the RPIC is the entity that caused the spill.
The RPIC typically plays a major role in oil spill response.
Pursuant to state law, companies operating vessels, marine oil
pipelines, marine terminals, and marine facilities are each
required to have their own oil spill contingency plan that is
approved and regulated by OSPR. These plans require the
company to have a cleanup organization on contract as well as
a spill management team. The RPIC for a marine oil spill is
usually a major asset for the Unified Command. There are,
however, no state requirements for oil spill contingency plans
for trains that transport oil.
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As indicated in the ICS flowchart, the "Command Staff" works
closely with the Unified Command during a spill. The Command
Staff includes "liaison officers," which can be local
government agencies that are certified as the "Unified Program
Agency" under the state's Certified Unified Program Agencies
(CUPA) program. Currently, all counties have been certified
under this program.
OSPR is presently unfunded for inland spill response, which
has created several administrative challenges (however, the
administration has been able to scrape together resources for
OSPR when needed). Moreover, OSPR does not have the authority
to require many of the inland oil spill prevention and
preparedness activities (e.g., oil spill contingency plans)
that it has for marine oil spills. A December 31, 2012 report
by the Department of Finance (DOF) recommended that OSPR
should "(1) explore feasible options to obtain a dedicated
funding source for the prevention, preparedness, response, and
cleanup of inland spills; and (2) develop formalized
prevention and preparedness activities for the Inland Response
Program."
Recently, the Governor developed an oil spill budget proposal
with trailer bill language that will, among other things, a)
require OSPR to mandate and regulate oil spill contingency
plans from companies transporting oil by rail and b) establish
dedicated funding sources for inland oil spill prevention,
preparedness, and response activities. The Governor's office
has been working with the various stakeholders, including
public agencies, environmentalists, budget and policy
committee staff, and the oil and rail industries, in
preparation for implementation of the proposal.
The impetus for the Governor's budget proposal is connected to
the recent, dramatic increase in the amount of oil transported
to the state by rail, which will grow steeply in the next ten
years due to the hydraulic fracturing boom in other areas of
the country (particularly North Dakota with its Bakken oil
shale formation). As indicated in the chart below (found here
on slide 18:
http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.rrt9.org/go/doc/2763/2
109354/&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=p6aQU62VEJLooASl8IHoAw&ve
d=0CBkQFjAA&sig2=j_LRwPUjOfnhYAsTFRQwKQ&usg=AFQjCNE4cbmYpcCqOsL
EStw9EjF0rf6BZQ), with this increase, the country experienced
more oil spilled from trains in 2013 than in the previous 37
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years. There has been a heightened level of public anxiety on
this issue in the last year as accidents in Canada and the
U.S. have demonstrated the potential magnitude of these
incidents. One of the most serious accidents was the
Lac-M�gantic derailment that occurred in the town of
Lac-M�gantic, Quebec on July 6, 2013. In this accident, a
74-car freight train carrying crude oil from the Bakken
formation derailed in the downtown area, killing 47 people and
destroying more than 30 buildings when multiple tank cars
exploded and burned. In addition, the Chaudi�re River was
contaminated by 26,000 gallons of crude oil.
What makes this issue especially alarming to Californians and
public agencies is that rail lines in the state frequently
pass through residential areas and regions of high population.
Furthermore, they often pass over or near bodies of water.
Below is a map provided by OSPR (found here on slide 13:
http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.rrt9.org/go/doc/2763/2
109354/&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=p6aQU62VEJLooASl8IHoAw&ve
d=0CBkQFjAA&sig2=j_LRwPUjOfnhYAsTFRQwKQ&usg=AFQjCNE4cbmYpcCqOsL
EStw9EjF0rf6BZQ) that shows the possible routes for trains
carrying oil into the state. As one can easily see, these
rail lines travel along and through several waterways and most
of the state's major metropolitan areas.
As recognized by the Governor's budget proposal, and
demonstrated by OSPR's involvement in inland and marine oil
spill response activities, OSPR clearly has the most
experience and expertise to address the growing threat of oil
spills caused by rail. OSPR has also been internally
preparing for its new and expanded responsibilities in
anticipation of the Governor's proposal becoming law.
3)Should we fund and adapt OSPR to address oil-by-rail, or start
from scratch ? As mentioned above, in recognizing the urgency
to address the "oil-by-rail" issue as soon as possible, the
Governor and OSPR are currently working with the Legislature
to develop a comprehensive oil spill program related to rail.
This bill proposes an alternative. The bill would require the
Railroad Accident Prevention and Immediate Deployment Force
(RAPID), an entity that has no funding and has been dormant
for 20 years, to develop a report with recommendations for a
state oil spill contingency plan specific to rail.
In 1991, the state created RAPID to provide immediate onsite
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response capability in the case of large-scale releases of
toxic materials resulting from surface transportation
accidents, such as train accidents. RAPID's statutory fee
authority was eliminated in 1995, which essentially ended the
program. Subsequently, the state has broadened OSPR's role in
inland oil spill response (see AB 2911, Wolk, Chapter 565,
Statutes of 2008).
This bill essentially revives RAPID and requires it to develop
a report on recommendations that would not be due until 2017.
Once the recommendations are made, subsequent legislation
would be required. If the legislation is introduced in 2017,
it may be enacted on January 1, 2018. Once the legislation is
enacted, there would have to be a rulemaking process to
implement its provisions. Obviously, if there is opposition
and the legislation fails, there would be no state oil spill
contingency plan for rail. Meanwhile, the volume of oil
transported by rail will keep increasing and the state will be
further exposed to the threat of a catastrophic accident.
To develop the RAPID report, Cal EPA would be the lead agency.
Cal EPA would be required to consult with 23 state agencies,
interested stakeholders, relevant local agencies, and any
other potentially affected state, local, or federal agency.
Given that the state's rail lines cross countless
jurisdictions, environments, and communities in the state, it
could be possible that Cal EPA would have to manage hundreds
of agencies and stakeholders. The bill provides no funding
for this task.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Western States Petroleum Association (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
AB 2677
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