Amended in Senate April 8, 2014

Amended in Senate March 24, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1064

Introduced by Senator Hill

February 18, 2014

An act to amend Section 960 of, and to add Section 765 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utility safety.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1064, as amended, Hill. Public Utilities Commission: railroads: natural gas pipelines: safety.

Existing law provides that the Public Utilities Commission has certain responsibilities for the inspection, surveillance, and investigation of the rights-of-way, facilities, equipment, and operations of railroads, including public mass transit guideways, and for enforcement of state and federal laws, regulations, orders, and directives relative to begin delete railroad end delete begin insert rail end insert safety.

The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011 designates the commission as the state authority responsible for regulating and enforcing federal law with respect to intrastate gas pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities. When the federal National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) submits a safety recommendation letter concerning gas pipeline safety to the commission, the act requires the commission, within 90 days, to provide the NTSB with a formal written response to each recommendation, as specified. When the NTSB issues a safety recommendation letter concerning any commission-regulated gas pipeline facility to the United States Department of Transportation, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a gas corporation, or to the commission, or the PHMSA issues an advisory bulletin concerning any commission-regulated gas pipeline facility, the act requires the commission to determine if implementation of the recommendation or advisory is appropriate and requires the commission, in that case, to issue orders or adopt rules to implement the safety recommendations or advisory as soon as practical and to consider whether specified alternatives exist to address the safety issue that the recommendation or advisory addresses. The act additionally requires the commission to include a detailed description of any action taken on the recommendations or advisory in a specified annual report to the Legislature.

This bill would enact similar provisions applicable to NTSB safety recommendations and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) safety advisories concerning begin delete railroads. end delete begin insert rail facilities. end insert With respect to natural gas pipelines, if the commission receives a correspondence from the NTSB that indicates that a recommendation of the NTSB has been closed following an action that the NTSB finds unacceptable, the bill would require this fact to be noted in the annual report submitted to the Legislature.

Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

Because this bill would require the commission to issue orders or adopt rules to implement any safety recommendation of the NTSB and safety advisories of the FTA relative to begin delete railroads end delete begin insert rail facilities end insert that the commission determines to be appropriate, and a violation of those orders or rules would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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 765 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:

765.  

(a) When the federal National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) submits a safety recommendation letter concerning
begin delete railroad end delete begin insert rail end insert safety to the commission, the commission shall provide
the NTSB with a formal written response to each recommendation
no later than 90 days after receiving the letter. The response shall
state one of the following:

(1) The commission’s intent to implement the recommendations
in full, with a proposed timetable for implementation of the
recommendations.

(2) The commission’s intent to implement part of the
recommendations, with a proposed timetable for implementation
of those recommendations, and detailed reasons for the
commission’s refusal to implement those recommendations that
the commission does not intend to implement.

(3) The commission’s refusal to implement the
recommendations, with detailed reasons for the commission’s
refusal to implement the recommendations.

(b) If the NTSB issues a safety recommendation letter
concerning any commission-regulated begin delete railroad end delete begin insert rail end insert facility to the
United States Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit
Administration, to a commission-regulated rail operator, or to the
commission, or if the Federal Transit Administration issues a safety
advisory concerning any commission-regulated begin delete railroad end delete begin insert rail end insert
facility, the commission shall determine if implementation of the
recommendation or advisory is appropriate. The basis for the
commission’s determination shall be detailed in writing and shall
be approved by a majority vote of the commission.

(c) If the commission determines that a safety recommendation
made by the NTSB is appropriate, or that action concerning a
safety advisory is necessary, the commission shall issue orders or
adopt rules to implement the safety recommendations or advisory
as soon as practicable. In implementing the safety recommendation
or advisory, the commission shall consider whether a more
effective, or equally effective and less costly, alternative exists to
address the safety issue that the recommendation or advisory
addresses.

(d) Any action taken by the commission on a safety
recommendation letter or safety advisory shall be reported
annually, in detail, to the Legislature with the report required by
Section 321.6. Any correspondence from the NTSB indicating that
a recommendation has been closed following an action that the
NTSB finds unacceptable shall be noted in the report required by
Section 321.6.

SEC. 2.  

Section 960 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:

960.  

(a) When the federal National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) submits a safety recommendation letter concerning
gas pipeline safety to the commission, the commission shall provide
the NTSB with a formal written response to each recommendation
not later than 90 days after receiving the letter. The response shall
state one of the following:

(1) The commission’s intent to implement the recommendations
in full, with a proposed timetable for implementation of the
recommendations.

(2) The commission’s intent to implement part of the
recommendations, with a proposed timetable for implementation
of those recommendations, and detailed reasons for the
commission’s refusal to implement those recommendations that
the commission does not intend to implement.

(3) The commission’s refusal to implement the
recommendations, with detailed reasons for the commission’s
refusal to implement the recommendations.

(b) If the NTSB issues a safety recommendation letter
concerning any commission-regulated gas pipeline facility to the
United States Department of Transportation, the federal Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a gas
corporation, or to the commission, or the PHMSA issues an
advisory bulletin concerning any commission-regulated gas
pipeline facility, the commission shall determine if implementation
of the recommendation or advisory is appropriate. The basis for
the commission’s determination shall be detailed in writing and
shall be approved by a majority vote of the commission.

(c) If the commission determines that a safety recommendation
made by the NTSB is appropriate or that action concerning an
advisory bulletin is necessary, the commission shall issue orders
or adopt rules to implement the safety recommendations or
advisory as soon as practicable. In implementing the safety
recommendation or advisory, the commission shall consider
whether a more effective, or equally effective and less costly,
alternative exists to address the safety issue that the
recommendation or advisory addresses.

(d) Any action taken by the commission on a safety
recommendation letter or advisory bulletin shall be reported
annually, in detail, to the Legislature with the report required by
Section 321.6. Any correspondence from the NTSB that indicates
that a recommendation of the NTSB has been closed following an
action that the NTSB finds unacceptable shall be noted in the report
required by Section 321.6.

SEC. 3.  

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.