Oil Spill Disaster Prevention & Response

SB 506 (Hill) — Request for Comments
As Proposed to be Amended

A draft of proposed amendments to SB 506, by Senator Hill, is being circulated for comment, but is not yet in print. The new language transfers administration of the Railroad Accident Prevention and Immediate Deployment Force to OES and imposes an off-settable fee on oil, as well as a fee on hazardous materials.

Specifically, the new language would do the following:

• Transfers the Railroad Accident Prevention and Immediate Deployment Force from EPA to OES, making them responsible for providing immediate onsite response capability in the event of a large-scale release of toxic materials from rail accident.
• Transfers administration of the Railroad Accident Prevention and Response Fund from EPA to OES.
• Requires director of OES to establish a schedule of fees to be paid by corporations owning oil or hazardous materials being transported by rail in CA.
• Allows for an offset of fees collected through the OSPR program, so there is no double fee.
• $10 mil annual cap.
• BOE responsible for collection of fee and the collection process is identical to OSPR collection.

We welcome your comments and input. 

SB 1319 (Pavley) — Request for Comments As Amended July 1, 2014

SB 1319, by Senator Pavley, is also related to Oil by Rail and would make a number of changes to planning, inspection and notification efforts.

Specifically, the bill would do the following:

• Expand the regional and local planning element of the California oil spill contingency plan to include the identification and mitigation of public health and safety impacts from an oil spill in waters of the state, and would require Cal EPA and OES to review the plans for facilities and local governments located outside of the coastal zone
• Require the Administrator of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act to provide a program for training and certification of a local emergency responder designated as a local spill response manager by a local government with jurisdiction over or directly adjacent to waters of the state.
• Require the Administrator of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act to annually determine the fee per barrel of crude oil or petroleum products in an amount sufficient to pay the reasonable regulatory costs of specified oil spill prevention activities and would remove the fee cap of $0.065 per barrel of crude oil or petroleum
• Authorize the CEC to disclose specified information regarding transport activities by major oil producers, oil transporters and refineries.
• Expand PUC inspections of railroad locomotives, equipment, and facilities to include bridges and grade crossings over which oil is being transported and oil unloading facilities. The bill also would authorize the Commission to regulate essential local safety hazards for the transport of oil more stringently than federal regulation.
• Expand that annual report to the Legislature to include the timing, nature, and status of the remediation of defects or violations of federal and state law related to the transport and unloading of oil detected by the commission through its inspections.

We welcome your input on this measure.

AB 380 (Dickinson) – Request for Comment As Amended June 16, 2014

AB 380, by Assembly Member Dickinson, would require a rail carrier to report specific information regarding the transportation of hazardous materials to the Office of Emergency Services on a quarterly basis. It would require the transporter of these materials to provide the Office with a summary of the materials as well as an emergency response plan. The Office of Emergency Services would be prohibited from divulging this information to unauthorized recipients. This bill is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee.