Bill Text: CA AB1328 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1328 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Oil and gas: water quality.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-10-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 758, Statutes of 2017. [AB1328 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB1328-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 17, 2017

Amended IN Assembly April 03, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1328

Introduced by Assembly Member Limón

February 17, 2017

An act to add Section 3227.7 to the Public Resources Code, relating to oil and gas.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1328, as amended, Limón. Oil and gas: wells.

Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Existing law requires the owner of any well to file with the supervisor a monthly statement that provides certain information relating to the well, including the amount of water produced from each well. Existing law provides that a person who fails to comply with specific laws relating to the regulation of oil or gas operations, including failing to furnish a report or record, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would require the owner or operator of ~~any~~ an oil or gas well to disclose quarterly to the division, in a format determined by the division, specified information relating to chemical constituents injected or added to the well. The bill would authorize the ~~division~~ division, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the applicable regional water quality control board to request from the owner or operator of a well additional data or chemical analyses of chemical constituents disclosed pursuant to these provisions to enhance the ~~division’s~~ entity’s injection fluid analysis or to determine the potential consequences of that chemical constituent for the environment and human health. The bill would also require a supplier that performs any part of the operation to inject or add chemical constituents to the well or has provided the chemical constituent directly to the owner or operator of the well to furnish the owner or operator with information needed for the owner or operator to comply with the quarterly disclosure requirement or a request for additional data. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would require the State Water Resources Control Board or the applicable California regional water quality control board, as appropriate, to use the information disclosed ~~to the division~~ pursuant to these provisions to ~~evaluate the chemistry of wastewater from the wells and to determine proper disposal methods of wastewater from those wells and whether the wastewater from those wells is appropriate for reuse.~~ evaluate, and revise as necessary, current minimum water quality standards that must be met when issuing permits for surface discharge of oil field produced water, and would require those standards to, as appropriate, address the potential presence of chemical constituents injected or added to the well and related chemical byproducts. The bill would require the division to provide the information received or determinations made pursuant to these provisions on its Internet Web site. The bill would apply specified procedures and requirements relating to a claim for trade secret protection to a claim for trade secret protection for information required to be disclosed pursuant to these provisions.

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 Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The state collects information on all chemicals used in well stimulation treatments as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 4 of the 2013–14 Regular Session (Ch. 313, Stats. 2013).
(b) The California Council on Science and Technology identified the unlimited use of hazardous chemicals in well stimulation treatments as a potential hazard to water quality and health.
(c) Many of those same chemicals are used in well stimulation treatments, as well as numerous other potentially hazardous chemicals that are used in other oil field activities, yet there has been no systematic collection of chemical information, resulting in data gaps for chemical use in oil fields.
(d) In order to more effectively regulate the oil and gas industry to better protect water resources and human health, regulators and the public must have access to complete information on chemicals used in oil and gas operations.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

Section 3227.7 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

3227.7.

(a) The owner or operator of ~~any~~ an oil or gas well shall disclose quarterly to the division, in a format determined by the division, all of the following information:

(1) A complete list of the names, Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers, mass, and maximum concentration, in percent by mass, of each and every chemical constituent injected or added to the well. If a CAS number does not exist for a chemical constituent, the well owner or operator may provide another unique identifier, if available.

(2) The trade name, the supplier, the concentration, and a brief description of the intended purpose for each chemical constituent injected or added ~~into~~ to the well.

~~(3)How the chemical constituents injected or added into the well have changed from the last quarterly disclosure.~~

(b) The ~~division~~ division, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the applicable California regional water quality control board, as appropriate, may request from the owner or operator of a well additional data or chemical analyses of chemical constituents disclosed pursuant to subdivision (a) to enhance the ~~division’s~~ entity’s injection fluid analysis or to determine the potential consequences of that chemical constituent for the environment and human health.

(c) If a chemical constituent is injected or added to an oil or gas well, a supplier that performs any part of the operation to inject or add the chemical constituent to the well or has provided the chemical constituent directly to the owner or operator of the well shall furnish the owner or operator with information suitable for public disclosure needed for the owner or operator to comply with the requirement under subdivision (a) or with a request under subdivision (b).
~~(c)~~

(d) The State Water Resources Control Board or the applicable California regional water quality control board, as appropriate, shall use the information disclosed ~~to the division~~ pursuant to this section to ~~evaluate the chemistry of wastewater from the wells and to determine proper disposal methods of wastewater from those wells and whether the wastewater from those wells is appropriate for reuse.~~ evaluate, and revise as necessary, current minimum water quality standards that are required to be met when issuing permits for surface discharge of oil field produced water. These standards shall, as appropriate, address the potential presence of chemical constituents injected or added to the well and related chemical byproducts.

~~(d)~~

(e) The division shall provide updated information on the chemical constituent data disclosed pursuant to subdivision (a), the additional data and the results of any chemical analyses received pursuant to subdivision (b), and the results of any evaluations and any determinations made by the State Water Resources Control Board or the applicable California regional water quality control board pursuant to subdivision (c) on the division’s Internet Web site.

(f) The procedures and requirements prescribed in subdivision (j) of Section 3160 shall apply, as applicable, to any claim for trade secret protection relating to information described in this section.

SEC. 2.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.