Bill Text: CA SB418 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Energy: nuclear fission powerplants.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-02-03 - Returned to Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). [SB418 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB418-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 418 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 11, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 8, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Jackson
(Principal coauthor: Senator Block)
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Atkins)
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
An act to add Section 1091.5 to the Public Utilities Code,
relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 418, as amended, Jackson. Energy: nuclear fission powerplants.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission, commonly
known as the PUC, has regulatory authority over public utilities,
including electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities
Act prohibits any electrical corporation from beginning the
construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of
any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the PUC a
certificate that the present or future public convenience and
necessity require or will require that construction. A violation of
the act, or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or
requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Existing federal law requires an operator of a nuclear fission
thermal powerplant to obtain from the federal
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission a license for the
operation of the powerplant.
This bill would enact the Nuclear Energy Planning and
Responsibility Act and would require the PUC to require an applicant
electrical corporation applying for ratepayer funding, or reopening
an existing application for ratepayer funding, for the relicensing of
a nuclear fission thermal powerplant with a generation capacity of
50 megawatts or greater by the federal United
States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to submit a detailed
study of the project needs and costs in order to assess the
cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the nuclear fission
thermal powerplant. Because a violation of this provision would
be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require the PUC to make the study available on
its Internet Web site and to independently review the study to assess
the cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the nuclear
fission thermal powerplant. Because a violation of this
provision would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
(2) 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. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Nuclear Energy Planning and Responsibility Act.
SEC. 2. Section 1091.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
1091.5. (a) Upon application to the commission for ratepayer
funding, or reopening of an existing application for ratepayer
funding, for the relicensing of a nuclear fission thermal powerplant
with a generation capacity of 50 megawatts or greater by the
federal United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, the commission shall require the applicant electrical
corporation operating the nuclear fission thermal powerplant to
submit a detailed study of the project needs and costs in order to
assess the cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the
nuclear fission thermal powerplant.
(b) The study shall include, but is not limited to, all of the
following areas of concern for the relicensing period:
(1) The effect of the nuclear fission thermal powerplant on system
reliability and the affordable supply of electricity, including
planned provisions for emergency operations and unplanned shutdowns
as well as the costs of replacement power.
(2) The costs attributable to major disruptions in electrical
generation due to aging or major seismic events , including any
uncompleted cost assessments required pursuant to paragraph (8) of
subdivision (a) of Section 25303 of the Public Resources Code,
that may require repair, replacement, or retrofit in excess of fifty
million dollars ($50,000,000) at the nuclear fission thermal
powerplant.
(3) The costs of responding to, or mitigating for, any
new state or federal for requirements
that have arisen or are anticipated to become enforceable during the
period of the license extension , retrofits, or
modifications that may arise from the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission Near Term Risk Task Force requirements pursuant
to commission document SECY-11-0137: Prioritization of Recommended
Actions to be Taken in Response to Fukushima Lessons
Learned, as that document may be subsequently amended .
(4) Potential costs and impacts associated with current and
accumulating high-level radioactive waste and its ongoing storage at
the nuclear fission thermal powerplant during the
relicensing period as necessitated by changes in the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission's revised Wast
e Confidence policy .
(5) Potential costs associated with mitigation or alternatives to
the use of once-through cooling at the nuclear fission thermal
powerplant as required by state or federal law
revisions mandated by the State Water Resources Control Board
.
(6) Potential costs associated with expanding and maintaining
emergency planning zones in compliance with state or federal
regulations the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's Near Term Task Force requirements pursuant to commission
documents SECY-11-0137: Prioritization of Recommended Actions to be
Taken in Response to Fukushima Lessons Learned and SECY-12-0025:
Proposed Orders and Requests for Information in Response to Lessons
Learned From Japan's March 11, 2011, Great Tohoku Earthquake and
Tsunami, as those documents may be subsequently amended .
(7) Costs associated with achieving compliance with requirements
for a federal consistency certification granted by the California
Coastal Commission to the electrical corporation, required for the
relicensing of the nuclear fission thermal powerplant by the
federal United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
(c) The commission shall make the study publicly available on its
Internet Web site and shall independently review the study to assess
the cost-effectiveness of the continued operation of the nuclear
fission thermal powerplant.
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.
