BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1300|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1300
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 4/21/14
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 3-0, 3/26/14
AYES: Hueso, Leno, Padilla
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 4-2, 5/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lara
SUBJECT : Refineries: turnarounds
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Industrial
Relations (DIR) to recoup from the owner of a refinery, the full
costs of extraordinary expenditures resulting from the Division
of Occupational Safety and Health's (Cal/OSHA's) response to an
emergency hazardous material release or similar occurrence and
requires oil refineries to annually report their schedule for
"turnarounds" to Cal/OSHA, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes Cal/OSHA, within DIR, to
protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job
through research and standards, enforcement and consultation
programs. Among other things, Cal/OSHA promotes worker safety
CONTINUED
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through implementation of training and process safety management
in refineries and other facilities, as specified.
Existing law, under the California Refinery and Chemical Plant
Worker Safety Act (Act) of 1990:
1.Declares that the potential consequences of explosions, fires,
and releases of dangerous chemicals may be catastrophic; thus
immediate and comprehensive government action must be taken to
ensure that workers in petroleum refineries, chemical plants,
and other related facilities are thoroughly trained and that
adequate process safety management practices are implemented.
2.Defines "process safety management" as the application of
management programs, as specified, when dealing with the risks
associated with handling or working near hazardous chemicals
and is intended to prevent or minimize the consequences of
catastrophic releases of acutely hazardous, flammable, or
explosive chemicals.
3.Among other things, "Process Safety Management Standards"
requires:
A. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to
adopt process safety management standards for refineries,
chemical plants, and other manufacturing facilities.
B. An employer to develop and maintain a compilation of
written safety information to enable the employer and
employees operating the machinery to identify and
understand the hazards posed by processes involving acutely
hazardous and flammable material. A copy of this
information is to be accessible to all workers.
C. An employer to perform a hazard analysis for
identifying, evaluation, and controlling hazards involved
in the process.
D. An employer to develop, implement, and update
periodically written operating procedures that provide
clear instructions for safely conducting activities
involved in each process consistent with the process safety
information.
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E. Each employee whose primary duties includes the
operating or maintenance of a process to be trained in an
overview of the process with an emphasis on the specific
safety and health hazards, procedures, and safe practices
applicable to the employee's job tasks as well as refresher
and supplemental training documented by the employer's
certification record.
F. An employer to inform contractors performing work on, or
near, a process of the known potential fire, explosion, or
toxic release hazards related to the contractor's work; and
requires that contractors have trained their employees to a
level adequate to safely perform their job.
1.Requires Cal/OSHA to annually fix and collect reasonable fees
for consultation, inspection, adoption of standards, and other
duties conducted pursuant to the Act. The fees shall be
sufficient to cover, at a minimum, the annual cost of 15 staff
positions. All revenue collected is to be deposited into the
Occupational Safety and Health Fund and subject to
appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.
This bill:
1.Expands on the requirements for fees collected from
refineries.
2.Defines what a "turnaround" at refineries is and establishes
specific requirements of refineries in notifying the state of
any planned turnarounds.
3.Prohibits certain information submitted to the state as a
trade secret from being released to the public.
With regards to the fees collected from owners for refinery
safety, this bill:
1.Authorizes DIR (instead of the division within Cal/OSHA) to
fix and collect reasonable fees to cover all necessary
expenses, including administrative and indirect costs, for the
existing consultation, inspection, adoption of standards and
other duties required under the Act.
2.Additionally, authorizes the fees to be used to fund
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participation in interagency efforts to improve safety in
refineries and chemical plants.
3.Deletes the requirement in law that the fees must be
sufficient to cover 15 staff positions.
4.Requires the Director of DIR to adopt rules and regulations
governing the criteria and procedures to fix and collect the
fees, including emergency regulations as necessary.
5.Requires the Director of DIR to recoup from the owner of a
refinery (by adding the amount expended to next year's
assessment), the full costs of extraordinary expenditures
resulting from the division's response to a hazardous material
release or similar occurrence. The Director shall document
expenses for which reimbursement is sought.
6.Authorizes DIR to credit against the owner's subsequent year's
assessment, any unexpended funds or hold them in reserve as a
contingency fund for expenditures required by an emergency
response to a hazardous material release or other situation.
With regards to "turnarounds," this bill:
1.Defines "turnaround" as 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.
2.Specifies that "turnaround" does not include unplanned
shutdowns that occur due to emergencies or other unexpected
maintenance matters in a process unit or plant, or routine
maintenance, as specified.
3.Requires a refinery employer to submit to Cal/OSHA a full
schedule of planned "turnarounds" for the various units on
September 15 of each year.
4.At the requests of Cal/OSHA, requires a refinery employer to
provide on-site access and specified documentation relating to
a planned turnaround at least 60 days prior to the shutdown of
a process unit or plant, including:
A. Corrosion reports and risk-based inspection reports;
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B. Process Hazard Analyses;
C. Boiler permit schedules;
D. Management of change records related to repairs, design
modifications and process changes;
E. Work orders scheduled to be completed in the planned
turnaround; and
F. Temporary repairs since the last turnaround.
1.Requires the refinery employer to submit notification of any
changes and supporting documents at least 30 days prior to a
planned turnaround.
2.Authorizes Cal/OSHA, by agreement with a refinery employer, to
modify the reporting period as to any individual item of
information.
3.Requires Cal/OSHA to develop an electronic information
management system to facilitate monitoring of petroleum
refineries.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, DIR estimates
that it would incur annual costs of roughly $250,000 (special
funds) to implement the provisions of this bill, to fund three
positions required to evaluate the technical information
provided by refineries.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/14)
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County
Environmental Justice Alliance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, oil refineries
have no obligation under state law to report their "turnaround"
schedule to any part of state or local government. Nor are they
required to disclose important information, such as repair
schedules or corrosion reports. The author argues that given
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the importance of "turnarounds," both to the refinery itself as
well as the public safety risk they pose allowing Cal/OSHA to
know this information may allow it to conduct targeted
inspections of refinery facilities. This bill requires
petroleum refineries to annually report their schedule for
"turnarounds" to DIR and requires them to also submit
documentation on refinery safety and infrastructure.
Proponents argue that in the case of Chevron, had Cal/OSHA known
that Chevron had not inspected the section of piping that caused
the explosion, it is possible that Cal/OSHA could have done
their own inspection. Doing so, they argue, could have
prevented an incident that threatened public health, affected
the environment, and imposed severe financial costs.
PQ:e 5/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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