BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1064
Page A
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1064 (Hill)
As Amended April 8, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :36-0
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 14-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Patterson, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Bonilla, Buchanan, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Ch�vez, Dahle, Fong, Beth | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Gaines, Garcia, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| |Mullin, Quirk, Rendon | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Lowenthal |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Enacts provisions concerning National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) safety recommendations and Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) safety advisories relating to California
Public Utilities Commission (PUC)-regulated rail facilities.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the PUC, upon receipt of NTSB rail safety
recommendations, to provide within 90 days, a written response
to NTSB indicating the commission's intended actions for each
recommendation, including one of the following:
a) The intent to implement recommendations in full, with a
proposed timetable.
b) The intent to implement part of the recommendations,
with a proposed timetable, and detailed reasons for the
refusal to implement the remaining recommendations.
c) The refusal to implement recommendations, with detailed
reasons for the refusal.
2)Requires the PUC, if NTSB issues a safety recommendation
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letter concerning a PUC-regulated rail facility to the United
States (U.S.) Department of Transportation, FTA, a
PUC-regulated rail operator, or the PUC itself, or if the FTA
issues a safety advisory concerning any PUC-regulated rail
facility, to detail in writing whether implementation of the
recommendation or advisory is appropriate and approve the
decision by majority vote.
3)Requires the PUC, upon deeming a NTSB recommendation
appropriate or an FTA action necessary, to issue orders or
adopt rules to implement the recommendation or action as soon
as practicable, and further requires the PUC to consider
whether a more effective, or equally effective and less
costly, alternative exists to address the safety issue.
4)Requires the PUC annual work plan to report any action taken
regarding a rail safety recommendation or advisory, and
requires any correspondence from NTSB indicating that a gas or
rail safety recommendation has been closed following an action
that the NTSB finds unacceptable to be noted.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor and absorbable costs to the PUC.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "The
Independent Review Panel into the San Bruno explosion called
for the profile of safety to be raised throughout the
California Public Utilities Commission's organization. After
finding that the CPUC [California PUC] had largely ignored
National Transportation Safety Board gas safety
recommendations and safety advisory bulletins from the federal
regulator, the Legislature decided to require the CPUC to be
more responsive to NTSB and to require a vote of the full
Commission in deciding whether to implement relevant
recommendations and advisory bulletins. After the dangerous
rescue of passengers of the September [2013] Angel's Flight
derailment - a rescue that wouldn't have been dangerous had
the CPUC not defied an NTSB recommendation (without even
taking a vote) - the Legislature should act again to raise the
profile of rail safety. By requiring the CPUC to report to
the Legislature of any actions the NTSB finds unacceptable -
as NTSB had found the CPUC's response to the fatal 2001
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Angel's Flight accident - gas and rail safety recommendations
from the NTSB will be given the consideration they deserve."
2)The National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB is an
independent federal agency charged with investigating
significant transportation accidents in the U.S., including
those related to aviation, railroads, highways, marine, and
pipelines. NTSB determines the probable cause of the
accidents and issues safety recommendations intended to
prevent future accidents. These recommendations are directed
to the public or private organization best able to correct the
issue(s). Since 1967, the NTSB has issued over 13,000 safety
recommendations to more than 2,500 recipients.
3)The Federal Transit Administration. FTA is an agency within
the U.S. Department of Transportation that provides financial
and technical assistance to local public transit systems. Rail
fixed guideway systems, and the Regional Transit Agencies that
operate them, are regulated by the FTA and states. In the
past, FTA has issued safety advisories in response to NTSB
recommendations.
4)NTSB rail safety recommendations to the PUC. NTSB has issued
twelve safety recommendations - six concerning pipelines and
six concerning rail - to the PUC since 1982.<1> Regarding the
rail recommendations, four were for rail fixed guideways, one
was for a freight line, and the remaining was for Amtrak.
NTSB has marked all gas pipeline safety recommendations to the
PUC as having "Acceptable" actions or responses, but two rail
safety recommendations have been classified as "Unacceptable,"
with one in particular - Angels Flight - being the impetus for
this bill. The troubles for the downtown Los Angeles Angels
Flight funicular railway began on February 1, 2001, when the
collision of the two cars resulted in one fatality and seven
injuries. In August 2003, NTSB recommended the PUC verify
Angels Flight equipment met industry standards, including
having an emergency evacuation guideway, before reauthorizing
service. When Angels Flight reopened in 2010, it did so
without an emergency evacuation guideway, and the NTSB
reclassified the safety recommendation as "Closed -
Unacceptable" because the PUC did not require Angels Flight to
comply with all elements of the recommendation before resuming
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<1> http://www.ntsb.gov/safetyrecs/private/QueryPage.aspx
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service. Correspondence on this action indicates the PUC
unsuccessfully petitioned the NTSB to change the safety
recommendation status to "Closed - Acceptable".
Another Angels Flight accident occurred on September 5, 2013,
when the descending car derailed and required rescue of five
stranded passengers in the ascending car. A month later, NTSB
issued five urgent recommendations, and the PUC President
responded with actions the PUC is taking to address the
recommendations. NTSB's website currently classifies this item
as "Open - Initial Response Received," but a May 13, 2014
letter from NTSB to the PUC updates the item as "Open -
Acceptable Response."
5)NTSB gas safety recommendations. To ensure NTSB gas safety
recommendations were considered by the PUC, AB 578 (Hill),
Chapter 462, Statutes of 2012, enacted provisions that
required: a) the PUC to be more responsive to NTSB
recommendations; b) a vote of the commission when deciding
whether to implement recommendations and/or advisories; and c)
inclusion of PUC actions on gas safety recommendations in the
PUC's annual report. This bill seeks to provide consistency
in the statute by enacting similar provisions concerning the
PUC's response to NTSB rail safety recommendations.
Analysis Prepared by : Brandon Gaytan / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0004327