BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1409
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 2, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                     SB 1409 (Hill) - As Amended:  June 4, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                             Utilities and  
          Commerce     Vote:                            14-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the California Public Utilities Commission  
          (PUC) to include descriptions of staff safety investigations in  
          its annual workplan.  Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Requires the PUC to provide a succinct description of each  
            open staff safety investigation and  those concluded within  
            the last year.  The description is required to include the  
            date of the incident, the reason for the investigation, the  
            facility type involved, and the owner of the facility. 

          2)Requires the PUC to submit this information as part of its  
            annual workplan to the Governor and Legislature no later than  
            February 1 of each year.

           FISCAL EFFECT 

          Minor, if any, additional state costs.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose.   According to the author, an annual reporting  
            requirement will raise the profile of accident investigations  
            and is consistent with the PUC's focus on transparency in  
            safety matters.
           
          2)Background.   PUC safety investigations serve multiple  
            purposes. First, they enable utilities, PUC staff, and the  
            public to learn from accidents and, possibly, act to prevent  
            similar accidents from happening in the future. Second, they  
            are used by plaintiffs to build civil cases against utilities.  








                                                                  SB 1409
                                                                  Page  2

            Third, they are a prerequisite for any PUC enforcement action.  
            Lastly, the PUC may use investigation reports to determine  
            whether the expenses in settling accident claims against  
            utilities are a reasonable business expense or are a result of  
            imprudent utility management and therefore, not recoverable in  
            future rates.

           3)Proposed Amendments.   PUC staff has expressed confidentiality  
            concerns regarding the requirement to publish the date of the  
            safety incident.  The author may wish to delete the date of  
            the safety incident from the reporting requirements to protect  
            the identities of involved parties.
            

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081