BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2678|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2678
Author: Ridley-Thomas (D), et al.
Amended: 6/26/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Pavley, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Monning,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/23/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Oil spills: Oil Spill Technical Advisory Committee
SOURCE : Western States Petroleum Association
DIGEST : This bill adds two additional members to the Oil
Spill Technical Advisory Committee (TAC): an inland
environmentalist and a representative of an environmental
justice group. Replaces the current TAC member who is required
to have worked in state government, with a faculty member of the
Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the University of
California, Davis (WHC), or the Director of the Oiled Wildlife
Care Network (OWCN).
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1.Establishes the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR)
within the Department of Fish and Wildlife 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.Creates the TAC to provide public input and independent
judgment of the actions of OSPR. Requires the TAC to consist
of 14 members. Requires the appointments to be made in a
specified manner.
3.Mandates the TAC to meet as often as required, but at least
twice per year.
4.Requires the TAC to provide recommendations to OSPR, the State
Lands Commission (SLC), the California Coastal Commission, and
the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
on the state's oil spill program, including the promulgation
of all rules, regulations, guidelines and policies.
5.Authorizes the TAC, at its own discretion, to study, comment
on, or evaluate, any aspect of oil spill prevention and
response in the state.
6.Requires the TAC to report biennially to the Governor and the
Legislature on its evaluation of oil spill response and
preparedness programs within the state and may prepare and
send any additional reports it determines to be appropriate to
the Governor and the Legislature.
This bill:
1.Modifies the membership of the TAC by:
A. Substituting a faculty member of the WHC, or the
Director of the OWCN for the current member who is required
to have worked in state government.
B. Adding a new member who represents an environmental
group with an interest in protecting inland natural
resources from oil spills.
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C. Adding a new member who represents an environmental
justice group concerned about the risk of oil spills from
railroad tank cars traveling through disadvantaged
communities.
All three of the proposed new members will be appointed by the
Governor and the total number of TAC members will increase to
16.
Background
In the wake of the March 24, 1989, Exxon Valdez oil spill in
Alaska (which spilled approximately 11 million gallons of crude
oil) and the February 7, 1990, American Trader oil spill near
Huntington Beach (which spilled approximately 300,000 gallons of
crude oil), the Legislature passed the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand
Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act (Oil Spill Act). The
overall purpose of the Oil Spill Act is to prevent and clean up
oil spills and to restore damage to the environment. OSPR and
SLC are vested with the primary responsibility for implementing
the Oil Spill Act.
One component of the Oil Spill Act was the creation of the TAC.
The TAC provides public input and independent review and
evaluation of the actions of OSPR. The TAC consists of 14
members, six of whom are appointed by the Governor, two by the
Speaker of the Assembly, and two by the Senate Rules Committee.
The membership must have background in marine transportation,
local government, oil spill response and prevention programs,
the petroleum industry, state government, environmental
protection and ecosystems, and the dry cargo vessel industry.
Pursuant to its by-laws, TAC members serve until they are either
replaced by the appointing authority, a member resigns, or a
member is asked for their resignation after a vote of at least
two-thirds of the appointed TAC members.
Since 2003, the TAC has been required to report biennially to
the Governor and the Legislature on its evaluation of oil spill
prevention and response within the state. The TAC may also
prepare and send any additional reports it determines to be
appropriate to the Governor and the Legislature.
The TAC meets at least on a quarterly basis throughout the year.
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All TAC meetings are open to the public pursuant to the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, and portions of each meeting are
devoted to public input on any issue affecting California's oil
spill programs.
The Governor currently has a budget proposal to strengthen the
state's oil spill program with regard to inland oil spills. The
impetus for the Governor's 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 10 years due to the
hydraulic fracturing boom in other areas of the country
(particularly North Dakota with its Bakken oil shale formation).
The possible routes for trains carrying oil into the state are
located along and through several waterways and most of the
state's major metropolitan areas. The potential for train
accidents and oil spills in these areas has created a heightened
level of public anxiety, especially in light of several tragic
oil-by-rail accidents in both the United States and Canada
during the last year.
Some of these anxieties are illustrated by a recent lawsuit
filed by environmental groups and environmental justice
organizations against an oil-by-rail operation in Richmond,
California. The complaint targets a specific oil-by-rail
operation that "brings highly volatile and explosive North
Dakotan Bakken crude oil to Bay Area refineries in the same type
of trains that derailed last July and exploded, killing nearly
fifty people and decimating half the downtown area of
Lac-M�gantic, Qu�bec." The complaint raises concerns about the
risks to the project's surroundings, which consist of "working
class communities of color, where residents already bear a
disproportionate share of environmental harms from the nearby
Chevron refinery and other industrial activities in the area."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Per Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee,
unable to verify at time of writing)
Western States Petroleum Association (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "California
has one of the most robust oil spill prevention and response
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programs in the country."
Assemblymember Ridley-Thomas continues, "Historically, the TAC
has provided OSPR with very good expertise and recommendations
on how to deal with oil spill response and prevention. However,
expertise on TAC could be improved by making changes to its
membership that would provide expertise in areas where OSPR's
knowledge may be lacking. To help OSPR carry out its mission
and implement its programs, there are some emerging issues (i.e.
crude by rail) that deserve attention and could benefit by
having additional expertise within the TAC to provide
appropriate recommendations for response and prevention
activities."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/23/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, John A. P�rez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Donnelly, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Nestande, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk-Silva, Vacancy
RM:e 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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