SB 325-FN-LOCAL – VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
03/27/14 1099s
2014 SESSION
06/04
SENATE BILL 325-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to oil spill preparedness and response.
SPONSORS: Sen. Woodburn, Dist 1; Sen. Odell, Dist 8; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Reagan, Dist 17; Rep. Suzanne Smith, Graf 8; Rep. Hammon, Coos 5
COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Deletes a certain allocation to equip and train personnel in oil spill response.
II. Deletes the credit for payment of the hazardous material transporter’s fee.
III. Requires the owner of an oil pipeline facility to submit a spill response plan to the department of safety.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/27/14 1099s
14-2763
06/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to oil spill preparedness and response.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Oil Discharge or Spillage in Surface Water or Groundwater; Definitions; Oil Pipeline Facility. Amend RSA 146-A:2 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
III-a. “Oil pipeline facility” means any intrastate pipeline structure, or section of any interstate pipeline structure, of any kind and its related appurtenances located within the boundaries of this state that is used or capable of being used for pumping, handling, transferring, transporting, processing, refining, or storing oil;
2 Oil Pollution Control Fund. Amend RSA 146-A:11-a, I to read as follows:
I. There is hereby established the New Hampshire oil pollution control fund. This nonlapsing, revolving fund shall, at a minimum, pay the salaries and expenses of the persons specified in RSA 146-A:11, except as the legislature may otherwise determine, as well as the costs to implement the provisions of RSA 146-A which include, but are not limited to, the salaries and expenses of additional personnel to the extent that such salaries and expenses are incurred in implementing the provisions of this chapter, and the other costs of containment or removal or corrective measures deemed necessary by the department of environmental services as a result of an actual or potential oil discharge into or onto the surface water or groundwater of the state. Moneys from the fund shall be used to mitigate the adverse effects of oil discharges including, but not limited to, provision of emergency water supplies to persons affected by such pollution, and, where necessary as determined by the department of environmental services, the establishment of an acceptable source of potable water to injured third parties. Not more than 10 percent of the moneys in the fund shall be allocated annually for research programs dedicated to the development and improvement of preventive and cleanup measures concerning such oil discharges. [In addition, up to $100,000 of such 10 percent shall be allocated annually to the Piscataqua River Cooperative to train and equip personnel in oil spill response.] In the event of an oil discharge, the department of environmental services may expend, with the approval of governor and council, such additional sums as are necessary to clean up the discharge except that the total amount expended may not exceed the balance in the New Hampshire oil pollution control fund. Income derived from the oil pollution control fund shall only be used for those administrative costs needed to implement RSA 146-A and any other costs cited in this section.
3 License Required. Amend RSA 146-A:11-b, III to read as follows:
III. Any person who imports or causes to be imported oil into the state and who is licensed under this chapter [shall be entitled to a credit against his annual license fee assessed under this section equal to the amount of any hazardous material transporter’s license fee which he has paid to the department of safety pursuant to the provisions of RSA 21-P:20 upon presenting satisfactory evidence of payment of the hazardous material transporter’s fee for any vehicles involved in the importation, transfer or transport of oil into this state. Any person licensed under this section] may seek, and shall receive for valid claims, an import credit for oil which the person transfers out of state during any reporting period.
4 New Section; Oil Pipeline Facility; Spill Response Plan. Amend RSA 146-A by inserting after section 3-e the following new section:
146-A:3-f Spill Response Plan.
I. Oil pipeline facility owners shall submit a spill response plan to the department of safety that provides spill protection equivalent to or greater than a facility response plan under 49 C.F.R. section 194.101. A person who has contracted with an oil pipeline facility to provide containment and cleanup services may submit the spill response plan, on behalf of the owner, for any oil pipeline facility for which the person is contractually obligated to provide services.
II. Response plans shall, at a minimum, include the following:
(a) The number, training preparedness, and fitness of all dedicated personnel assigned to direct and implement the plan;
(b) Arrangements for the positioning of oil spill containment, cleanup equipment, and trained personnel at strategic locations from which they can be deployed to the spill site to promptly and properly remove the spilled oil; and
(c) The amount and type of equipment available to respond to a spill, where the equipment is located, and the extent to which other contingency plans rely on the same equipment.
III. Spill response plans for oil pipeline facilities shall be submitted to the department within 6 months after the department has adopted rules under this section.
IV. The department shall approve a spill response plan for an oil pipeline facility only if it determines that the plan meets the requirements set forth in this section and rules adopted by the department.
V. Upon approval of a spill response plan for an oil pipeline facility, the department shall provide to the person submitting the plan a statement indicating that the plan has been approved, the oil pipeline facilities covered by the plan, and any other information the department determines should be included.
VI. An owner or operator of an oil pipeline facility shall notify the department in writing immediately of any significant change of which it is aware affecting its spill response plan, including changes in any factor set forth in this section or in rules adopted by the department. The department may require the owner or operator to update a spill response plan as a result of such changes.
VII. The department by rule shall require spill response plans to be reviewed, updated, if necessary, and resubmitted to the department at least once every 5 years.
VIII. Approval of a spill response plan by the department shall not constitute an express assurance regarding the adequacy of the plan nor constitute a defense to liability imposed under this chapter or any other state law.
5 New Paragraph; Rulemaking. Amend RSA 146-A:11-c by inserting after paragraph I-a the following new paragraph:
I-b. Requirements for oil pipeline facility spill response plans under RSA 146-A:3-f.
6 New Section; Severability. Amend RSA 146-A by inserting after section 17 the following new section:
146-A:18 Severability. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.
7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
14-2763
Amended 04/10/14
SB 325-FN-LOCAL FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to oil spill preparedness and response.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety and Department of Environmental Services state this bill, as amended by the Senate (Amendment #2014-1099s), may increase state restricted expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 and each year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on state revenue, or county and local revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety states this bill requires owners of a pipeline facility submit a spill response to the Department of Safety. The Department states this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state expenditures. The Department has no information on the number of plans that will need to be reviewed to determine the impact on state expenditures.
The Department of Environmental Services assumes, pursuant to RSA 21-P:17, I, that the Department of Safety will enter into a cooperative agreement with the Department to develop rules and review the spill response plans. The Department states since this bill does not appropriate additional funds or authorize new positions, the Department will need to reassign work responsibilities for three positions (Administrator III, Environmentalist IV, and Environmentalist II) resulting in the potential for other tasks that have been done by these three positions not being completed. It is estimated the three positions will need to dedicate at least half their time in the first year and a quarter of their time each year thereafter drafting rules and reviewing the spill response plans. If funding was provided it would increase state restricted expenditures by approximately $55,060 in FY 2015, and $27,030 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter.