Bill Text: CA AB864 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Oil spill response: environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 592, Statutes of 2015. [AB864 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB864-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 864 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 592
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 8, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Williams and Burke
(Principal coauthor: Senator Jackson)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chiu, Rendon, Mark Stone, Ting, and
Wood)
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Section 51013.1 to the Government Code, relating to
oil spill response.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 864, Williams. Oil spill response: environmentally and
ecologically sensitive areas.
The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act
requires owners or operators of various facilities, including
pipelines, while operating in the waters of the state or where a
spill from the pipelines could impact state waters, to have an oil
spill contingency plan submitted to, and approved by, the
administrator for oil spill response to ensure prompt and adequate
response and removal action in case of a spill. The act requires the
operator to maintain a level of readiness that will allow effective
implementation of the applicable contingency plan.
The Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981, among other
things, requires the State Fire Marshal to adopt hazardous liquid
pipeline safety regulations in compliance with the federal law
relating to hazardous liquid pipeline safety. The act requires any
new pipeline constructed after January 1, 1984, and which normally
operates under conditions of constant flow and pressure, to be
designed and constructed in accordance with specified federal
regulations, and have a means of leak detection and cathodic
protection that the State Fire Marshal determines is acceptable. A
violation of the act is a crime. Except as provided, the act defines
"pipeline" as including every intrastate pipeline used to transport
hazardous liquid substances or highly volatile liquid substances, as
provided.
This bill would require, by January 1, 2018, any new or
replacement pipeline near environmentally and ecologically sensitive
areas in the coastal zone to use best available technologies to
reduce the amount of oil released in an oil spill to protect state
waters and wildlife. The bill would require, by July 1, 2018, an
operator of an existing pipeline near these sensitive areas to submit
a plan to retrofit the pipeline, by January 1, 2020, as provided. By
creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to adopt
regulations relating to the above provisions by July 1, 2017.
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.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 51013.1 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
51013.1. (a) By January 1, 2018, any new or replacement pipeline
near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal
zone shall use best available technology, including, but not limited
to, the installation of leak detection technology, automatic shutoff
systems, or remote controlled sectionalized block valves, or any
combination of these technologies, based on a risk analysis conducted
by the operator, to reduce the amount of oil released in an oil
spill to protect state waters and wildlife.
(b) (1) By July 1, 2018, an operator of an existing pipeline near
environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone
shall submit a plan to retrofit, by January 1, 2020, existing
pipelines near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in
the coastal zone with the best available technology, including, but
not limited to, installation of leak detection technologies,
automatic shutoff systems, or remote controlled sectionalized block
valves, or any combination of these technologies, based on a risk
analysis conducted by the operator to reduce the amount of oil
released in an oil spill to protect state waters and wildlife.
(2) An operator may request confidential treatment of information
submitted in the plan required by paragraph (1) or contained in any
documents associated with the risk analysis described in this
section, including, but not limited to, information regarding the
proposed location of automatic shutoff valves or remote controlled
sectionalized block valves.
(c) The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations pursuant to
this section by July 1, 2017. The regulations shall include, but not
be limited to, all of the following:
(1) A definition of automatic shutoff systems.
(2) A process to assess the adequacy of the operator's risk
analysis.
(3) A process by which an operator may request confidential
treatment of information submitted in the plan required by paragraph
(1) of subdivision (b) or contained in any documents associated with
the risk analysis described in this section.
(4) A determination of how near to an environmentally and
ecologically sensitive area a pipeline must be to be subject to the
requirements of this section based on the likelihood of the pipeline
impacting those areas.
(d) An operator of a pipeline near environmentally and
ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone shall notify the
Office of the State Fire Marshal of any new construction or retrofit
of pipeline in these waters.
(e) For purposes of implementing this section, the State Fire
Marshal shall consult with the Office of Spill Prevention and
Response about the potential impacts to state water and wildlife.
(f) For purposes of this section, "environmentally and
ecologically sensitive areas" is the same term as described in
subdivision (d) of Section 8574.7.
(g) (1) For purposes of this section, "best available technology"
means technology that provides the greatest degree of protection by
limiting the quantity of release in the event of a spill, taking into
consideration whether the processes are currently in use and could
be purchased anywhere in the world.
(2) The State Fire Marshal shall determine what is the best
available technology and shall consider the effectiveness and
engineering feasibility of the technology when making this
determination.
SEC. 2. 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.
