California Assembly Bill AB1359 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1359AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner FEBRUARY 18, 2011  An act to amend Section 454 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities.   An act to amend Section 43600 of the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1359, as amended, Skinner.  Public utilities: rates.   Solid waste: landfills: evidence of financial ability: closure and postclosure maintenance.   Existing law, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, establishes an integrated waste management program administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. The act requires a person owning or operating a solid waste landfill, as defined, to submit to the board, with the closure plan and postclosure maintenance plan, evidence of financial ability to provide for the cost of closure and postclosure maintenance, in an amount that is equal to the estimated cost of closure and 15 years of postclosure maintenance, contained in the closure plan and the postclosure maintenance plan submitted.   This bill would specify that the evidence of financial ability to provide for the cost of the closure and postclosure maintenance shall be in an amount that is equal to the estimated cost of closure and not less than 15 years of postclosure maintenance.   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law, with certain exceptions, prohibits a public utility from changing any rate, except upon a showing before the commission and a finding by the commission that the new rate is justified.   This bill would make a nonsubstantive, technical change to this prohibition.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 43600 of the   Public Resources Code   is amended to read:  43600. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b),  any   a  person owning or operating a solid waste landfill, as defined in  subdivision (a) of  Section 40195.1, shall, with the closure plan and postclosure maintenance plan submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 43501, submit to the board evidence of financial ability to provide for the cost of closure and postclosure maintenance, in an amount that is equal to the estimated cost of closure and  not less than  15 years of postclosure maintenance, contained in the closure plan and the postclosure maintenance plan submitted. (b) On and after the effective date of the federal regulations set forth in Subpart G (commencing with Section 258.70) of Part 258 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations,  any   a  person owning or operating a solid waste landfill, shall, with the closure plan and postclosure maintenance plan submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 43501, submit to the board evidence of financial ability to provide for closure and postclosure maintenance, in an amount that is equal to the estimated cost of closure and 30 years of postclosure maintenance, contained in the closure plan and the postclosure maintenance plan submitted.  SECTION 1.   Section 454 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 454. (a) Except as provided in Section 455, a public utility shall not change any rate or so alter any classification, contract, practice, or rule as to result in any new rate, except upon a showing before the commission and a finding by the commission that the new rate is justified. Whenever any electrical, gas, heat, telephone, water, or sewer system corporation files an application to change any rate, other than a change reflecting and passing through to customers only new costs to the corporation that do not result in changes in revenue allocation, for the services or commodities furnished by it, the corporation shall furnish to its customers affected by the proposed rate change notice of its application to the commission for approval of the new rate. This notice requirement does not apply to any rate change proposed by a corporation pursuant to an advice letter submitted to the commission in accordance with commission procedures for this means of submission. The procedures for advice letters may include provision for notice to customers or subscribers on a case-by-case basis, as determined by the commission. The corporation may include the notice with the regular bill for charges transmitted to the customers within 45 days if the corporation operates on a 30-day billing cycle, or within 75 days if the corporation operates on a 60-day billing cycle. If more than one application to change any rate is filed within a single billing cycle, the corporation may combine the notices into a single notice if the applications are separately identified. The notice shall state the amount of the proposed rate change expressed in both dollar and percentage terms for the entire rate change as well as for each customer classification, a brief statement of the reasons the change is required or sought, and the mailing, and if available, the e-mail address of the commission to which any customer inquiries may be directed regarding how to participate in, or receive further notices regarding the date, time, or place of, any hearing on the application, and the mailing address of the corporation to which any customer inquiries relative to the proposed rate change may be directed. (b) The commission may adopt rules it considers reasonable and proper for each class of public utility providing for the nature of the showing required to be made in support of proposed rate changes, the form and manner of the presentation of the showing, with or without a hearing, and the procedure to be followed in the consideration thereof. Rules applicable to common carriers may provide for the publication and filing of any proposed rate change together with a written showing in support thereof, giving notice of the filing and showing in support thereof to the public, granting an opportunity for protests thereto, and to the consideration of, and action on, the showing and any protests filed thereto by the commission, with or without hearing. However, the proposed rate change does not become effective until it has been approved by the commission. (c) The commission shall permit individual public utility customers and subscribers affected by a proposed rate change, and organizations formed to represent their interests, to testify at any hearing on the proposed rate change, except that the presiding officer need not allow repetitive or irrelevant testimony and may conduct the hearing in an efficient manner.