Amended in Assembly August 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly August 18, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 18, 2014

Amended in Senate April 21, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1300

Introduced by Senator Hancock

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Skinner)

February 21, 2014

An act to add Sections 7872 and 7873 to the Labor Code, relating to refineries.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1300, as amended, Hancock. Refineries: turnarounds.

Existing law, the California Refinery and Chemical Plant Worker Safety Act of 1990, states that its purpose is to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, flammable, or explosive chemicals. The act provides for the adoption by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board of specified process safety management standards for, among others, refineries that handle acutely hazardous material. The act declares the intent of the Legislature for the standards board and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to promote worker safety through implementation of training and process safety management, as defined, in refineries and other facilities as deemed appropriate. A violation of the act is a crime.

This bill would require every petroleum refinery employer to, every September 15, submit to the division a full schedule for the following calendar year of planned turnarounds, meaning a planned, periodic shutdown of a refinery process unit or plant to perform maintenance, overhaul, and repair operations and to inspect, test, and replace process materials and equipment, as specified. The bill would also require a petroleum refinery employer, upon the request of the division, to provide access onsite and provide the division with specified documentation relating to a planned turnaround within a certain period of time, as provided. The bill would, except begin delete in the case of a request for public release, require end delete begin insert as specified, prohibit end insert the division begin delete to protect from public disclosure end delete begin insert from releasing to the public end insert any information submitted to the division pursuant to these provisions that is designated as a trade secret, as defined. The bill would require the division to notify a petroleum refinery employer in writing of a request for the release of information to the public that includes information that the petroleum refinery employer has notified the division is a trade secret, as provided. begin delete This end delete begin insert The end insert bill would authorize an employer to seek a court order prohibiting public disclosure. The bill establishes misdemeanor penalties for knowingly and willfully disclosing trade secrets.

Because a violation of the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the 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 7872 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

7872.  

(a) As used in this begin delete section, end delete begin insert section and in Section 7873, end insert
“turnaround” means a planned, periodic shutdown, total or partial,
of a refinery process unit or plant to perform maintenance,
overhaul, and repair operations and to inspect, test, and replace
process materials and equipment. “Turnaround” does not include
unplanned shutdowns that occur due to emergencies or other
unexpected maintenance matters in a process unit or plant.
“Turnaround” also does not include routine maintenance, where
routine maintenance consists of regular, periodic maintenance on
one or more pieces of equipment at a refinery process unit or plant
that may require shutdown of such equipment.

(b) Every September 15, every petroleum refinery employer
shall submit to the division a full schedule of planned turnarounds
for all affected units for the following calendar year.

(c) At the request of the division, at least 60 days prior to the
shutdown of a process unit or plant as part of a planned turnaround,
a petroleum refinery employer shall provide access onsite and
allow the division to review the following documentation for the
process unit or plant scheduled to be shut down for that turnaround:

(1) All corrosion reports and risk-based inspection reports
generated since the last turnaround.

(2) Process hazard analyses generated since the last turnaround.

(3) Boiler permit schedules.

(4) All management of change records related to repairs, design
modifications, and process changes implemented since the last
turnaround or scheduled to be completed in the planned turnaround
referenced in this subdivision and identified in subdivision (b).

(5) Work orders scheduled to be completed in the planned
turnaround referenced in this subdivision and identified in
subdivision (b).

(6) All temporary repairs made since the last turnaround,
including, but not limited to, clamps and encapsulations. As used
in this section, “temporary repairs” means repairs made to piping
systems in order to restore sufficient integrity to continue safe
operation until permanent repairs can be scheduled.

(7) Notification and description of all repairs, design
modifications, or process changes described in a corrosion report,
risk-based inspection report, process hazard analysis, boiler permit
schedule, management of change record, work order, or other
document listed in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, that the
petroleum refinery employer has deferred to a subsequent
operational period or turnaround.

(d) The division may request additional information as necessary
to perform its responsibilities in this part pursuant to Section 6314.

(e) At the request of the division, at least 30 days before the
shutdown of a process unit or plant as part of a planned turnaround,
a petroleum refinery employer shall provide access onsite and
allow the division to review any changes to the information or
documents reviewed by the division pursuant to subdivision (c)
and relevant supporting documents.

(f) At the division’s request, a petroleum refinery employer
shall provide the division with physical copies, or, at the division’s
discretion, electronic copies if available, of the documentation
reviewed by the division pursuant to subdivisions (c), (d), and (e).

(g) By agreement with a petroleum refinery employer, the
division may modify the reporting period as to any individual item
of information.

(h) This section is not intended to limit or increase the division’s
authority in Part 1 (commencing with Section 6300) to prohibit
use of a place of employment, machine, device, apparatus, or
equipment or any part thereof that constitutes an imminent hazard
to employees.

(i) The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose of this
section is to improve the ability of the state to conduct inspections
of petroleum refining operations.

SEC. 2.  

Section 7873 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

7873.  

(a) As used in this section, “trade secret” means a trade
secret as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 6254.7 of the
Government Code or Section 1061 of the Evidence begin delete Code, end delete begin insert Code.
For the purposes of Section 6254.7 of the Government Code, end insert the
schedule submitted to the division pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section begin delete 7872, and any other information regarding end delete begin insert 7872 of this
code, and end insert the scheduling, duration, begin insert layout, configuration, end insert and type
of work to be performed during a turnaround that may provide
economic value to any person other than the petroleum refinery
begin delete employer. end delete begin insert employer shall be deemed information used to fabricate,
produce, or compound an article of trade or a service having
commercial value and which gives its users an opportunity to
obtain a business advantage over competitors who do not know
or use it. end insert Upon completion of a turnaround, the begin delete dates on which end delete
begin insert scheduling and duration of end insert that turnaround begin delete was conducted end delete shall
no longer be considered a trade secret.

(b) (1) If a petroleum refinery employer believes that
information submitted to the division pursuant to Section 7872
may involve the release of a trade secret, the petroleum refinery
employer shall nevertheless provide this information to the
division. The petroleum refinery employer may, at the time of
submission, identify all or a portion of the information submitted
to the division as trade secret and, to the extent feasible, segregate
records designated as trade secret from the other records.

(2) Subject to subdivisions (c), (d), and (e), the division shall
begin delete protect from disclosure end delete begin insert not release to the public end insert any information
designated as a trade secret by the petroleum refinery employer
pursuant to paragraph (1).

(c) (1) Upon the receipt of a request for the release of
information to the public that includes information that the
petroleum refinery employer has notified the division is a trade
secret pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), the division
shall notify the petroleum refinery employer in writing of the
request by certified mail, return receipt requested.

(2) The division shall release the requested information to the
begin delete public 120 days or more after the petroleum refinery employer’s
receipt of the notice of the request for information, unless, before
the expiration of the 120-day period, the petroleum refinery
employer files an action in an appropriate court for a declaratory
judgment that the information is subject to protection under
subdivision (b), promptly notifies the division of that action, and
obtains an order prohibiting disclosure of the information to the
public. end delete begin insert public, unless both of the following occur: end insert

begin insert

(A) Within 30 days of receipt of the notice of the request for
information, the refinery petroleum employer files an action in an
appropriate court for a declaratory judgment that the information
is subject to protection under subdivision (b) and promptly notifies
the division of that action.

end insert begin insert

(B) Within 120 days of receipt of the notice of the request for
information, the refinery petroleum employer obtains an order
prohibiting disclosure of the information to the public and promptly
notifies the division of that action.

end insert

(3) This subdivision shall not be construed to allow a petroleum
refinery employer to refuse to disclose the information required
pursuant to this section to the division.

(d) Except as provided in subdivision (c), any information that
has been designated as a trade secret by a petroleum refinery
employer begin delete is confidential information for purposes of this section
and end delete shall not be released to any member of the public, except that
such information may be disclosed to other officers or employees
of the division begin delete concerned with carrying out the purposes of the
division or end delete when relevant in any proceeding of the division. If the
person requesting the release of the information or the begin delete person who
submitted the information institutes a proceeding for injunctive or
declaratory relief or a writ of mandate end delete begin insert petroleum refinery employer
files an action end insert to order or prohibit disclosure of trade secret
information, the person instituting the proceeding shall name the
begin delete other party end delete begin insert person or the petroleum refinery employer end insert as a real
party in interest. begin delete Each party shall bear its own costs and attorney’s
fees. end delete begin insert The court shall award costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees
to the party that prevails in litigation filed pursuant to this section.
The public agency shall not bear the court costs for any party
named in litigation filed pursuant to this section. end insert

(e) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the exchange
of begin delete properly designated end delete trade secrets between local, state, or federal
public agencies when those trade secrets are relevant and necessary
to the exercise of their authority.

(f) An officer or employee of the division who, by virtue of that
employment or official position, has possession of, or has access
to, begin delete confidential end delete begin insert trade secret end insert information, and who, knowing that
disclosure of the information to the general public is prohibited
by this section, knowingly and willfully discloses the information
in any manner to a person he or she knows is not entitled to receive
it, is guilty of a misdemeanor. A contractor with the division and
an employee of the contractor, who has been furnished information
as authorized by this section, shall be considered an employee of
the division for purposes of this section.

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.