California Assembly Bill AB1900 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1900AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 19, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Gatto, Chesbro, and Roger Hernndez (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gordon and Skinner) (Coauthors: Senators Cannella and Liu) FEBRUARY 22, 2012 An act to amend  Sections   Section  25420  of,  and  to repeal and add Section  25421 of  ,  the Health and Safety Code, to add Section 25326 to the Public Resources Code, and to add Sections 399.24 and 769 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1900, as amended, Gatto. Renewable energy resources: biomethane.  Existing   (1)     Existing  law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to specify the maximum amount of vinyl chloride that may be found in landfill gas. Existing law prohibits a gas producer from knowingly selling, supplying, or transporting to a gas corporation, and a gas corporation from knowingly purchasing, landfill gas containing vinyl chloride in a concentration exceeding the maximum amount determined by the PUC. Existing law requires a person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases landfill gas for sale offsite to a gas corporation to sample and test, bimonthly, the gas at the point of distribution for chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to evaluate the environmental and health risks posed by various hazardous substances. This bill would require OEHHA  to identify all constituents that may be found in landfill gas that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline and that could adversely impact the health and safety of the public, and to specify the maximum amount of those constituents that may be found in that landfill gas. This bill would require the PUC to develop reasonable and prudent testing protocols for gas collected from a solid waste landfill that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline to determine if the gas contains any of the identified constituents at levels that exceed the standards set by OEHHA. This bill would prohibit a gas producer from knowingly selling, supplying, transporting, or purchasing gas collected from a hazardous waste landfill   ,   in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, to compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose risks to human health and that are found in biogas, as defined, at concentrations that significantly exceed the concentrations of those constituents in natural gas. The bill would require OEHHA to determine the health protective levels for that list, as specified, and would require the state board to identify realistic exposure scenarios and the health risks associated with those scenarios, as specified.   The bill would require the state board to determine the appropriate concentrations of those constituents, as specified. The bill would also provide that actions taken pursuant to the above-described requirements do not constitute regulations and are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act  .  The bill would further require the PUC to adopt, by rule or order, (1) standards for biomethane that specify the concentrations of constituents of concern that are reasonably necessary to protect public health and ensure pipeline integrity and safety, as specified, and (2) requirements for monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping, as specified. The bill would require a gas corporation, as defined, to comply with those standards and requirements. The bill would require the PUC to require gas corporation tariffs to condition access to common carrier pipelines on the applicable customer meeting those standards and requirements. The bill would also prohibit a person and a gas corporation from knowingly engaging in specified transactions involving common carrier pipelines and biogas collected from a hazardous waste landfill, as defined.   The   (2)     The  Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires it to prepare an integrated energy policy report on or before November 1, 2003, and every 2 years thereafter. The act requires the report to contain an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state, including, but not limited to, supply, demand, pricing, reliability, efficiency, and impacts on public health and safety, the economy, resources, and the environment. This bill would require the Energy Commission to hold public hearings to identify impediments that limit procurement of electricity generated from biomethane in California, including, but not limited to, impediments to interconnection. The bill would require the Energy Commission to offer solutions to those impediments as part of the above-mentioned report.  This   (3)     This  bill would require the PUC to adopt policies and programs that promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane.  Existing   (4)     Existing  law allows the PUC to set heating and purity requirements for biomethane injected into a gas pipeline. Existing law allows gas corporations to impose tariffs on biomethane injected into their pipelines. This bill would require the PUC to adopt pipeline access rules that  will ensure nondiscriminatory open access to each corporation's gas pipeline system to any party for the purpose of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the delivery of gas   ensure that each gas corporation provides nondiscriminatory open access to its gas pipeline system to any party for the purposes of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the delivery of gas  .  This bill would make other conforming changes.   (5) This bill would become operative only if this bill and AB 2196 of the 2011-12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2013.   Under   (6)     Under  existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because this bill would require action by the PUC to implement certain of its requirements, a violation of which would be a crime, these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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.  This bill would become operative only if this bill and AB 2196 of the 2011-12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2013.  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. Section 25420 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 25420. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:  (a) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission.   (b) "Delivery of landfill gas by dedicated pipeline" means gas captured at a solid waste facility and transported from that site to an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code), that utilizes best available control technology for the control of air pollutants, using a pipeline that is not a common carrier pipeline used to transport natural gas to customers other than the eligible renewable energy resource, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the commission.   (a) "Biogas" means gas that is produced from the anaerobic decomposition of organic material.   (b) "Biomethane" means biogas that meets the standards adopted pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 25421 for injection into a common carrier pipeline.   (c) "Board" means the State Air Resources Board.   (d) "CalRecycle" means the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.   (e) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission.   (f) "Common carrier pipeline" means a gas conveyance pipeline, located in California, that is owned or operated by a utility or gas corporation, excluding a dedicated pipeline.   (g) "Dedicated pipeline" means a conveyance of biogas or biomethane that is not part of a common carrier pipeline system, and which conveys biogas from a biogas producer to a conditioning facility or an electrical generation facility.   (c)   (h)  "Department" means the Department of Toxic Substances Control.  (d)   (i)  "Gas corporation" has the same meaning as defined in Section 222 of the Public Utilities Code and is subject to rate regulation by the commission.  (e)   (j)  "Hazardous waste landfill" means a landfill that is a hazardous waste facility, as defined in Section 25117.1.  (f)   (k) "Office" means the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.  (g)  (l)  "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, partnership, association, business concern, limited liability company, or corporation. "Person" also includes any city, county, district, and the state or any department or agency thereof, or the federal government or any department or agency thereof to the extent permitted by law.  (h) "Solid waste landfill" means a landfill that is a solid waste facility, as defined in Section 40194 of the Public Resources Code, or at which solid waste, as defined in Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code, is disposed.   SEC. 2.   Section 25421 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 25421. (a) (1) The office shall, by rule or order, identify all constituents that may be found in landfill gas that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline and that could adversely impact the health and safety of the public. Potential impacts include, but are not limited to, health and safety hazards to utility employees or to the general public, damage to pipeline facilities, and other impacts that may inhibit the marketability of gas. (2) The office shall, by rule or order, specify the maximum amount of constituents identified pursuant to paragraph (1) that may be found in landfill gas that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline. The maximum amount adopted by the office shall not exceed the equivalent of the no significant risk level set in Section 25705 of Title 27 of the California Code of Regulations for constituents that are specified in that section. (3) The office shall provide the commission with the information required by this subdivision for the commission to implement this section. (b) The office shall make findings that are sufficient to ensure that the standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) do not do either of the following: (1) Expose any customer, employee, or other person to landfill gas if that gas contains any chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable warning to that individual, except as provided by Section 25249.10. (2) Expose a natural gas pipeline to an unreasonable risk of harm to pipeline integrity. (c) The commission shall develop reasonable and prudent testing protocols for gas collected from a solid waste landfill that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline to determine if the gas contains any of the constituents that the office has identified pursuant to subdivision (a) at levels that exceed the standards set by the office. (1) Recognizing the potential environmental benefits of landfill gas that satisfies required standards and specifications, the commission shall ensure that the protocols it adopts pursuant to this subdivision provide for efficient testing procedures that accurately, and, where needed, continuously, identify levels of constituents in landfill gas that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline. (2) Every person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases gas collected at a solid waste landfill, that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline for sale offsite to a gas corporation or noncore customer, shall comply with the standards and testing protocols set by the commission. (d) (1) A gas producer shall ensure that landfill gas it seeks to inject into a pipeline satisfies the standards set by the office pursuant to subdivision (a). A gas corporation shall administer testing protocols consistent with those standards, and shall not knowingly accept landfill gas that does not satisfy those standards. (2) A gas producer shall not knowingly sell, supply, or transport gas collected from a hazardous waste landfill to a gas corporation. A gas corporation shall not knowingly purchase gas collected from a hazardous waste landfill. (e) This section does not prohibit the onsite usage of landfill gas for the generation of electricity or any other onsite productive use by an eligible renewable energy resource, or the delivery of landfill gas by a dedicated pipeline for the generation of electricity, the production of steam, or any other productive use or other industrial applications.   SEC. 2.   Section 25421 of the   Health and Safety Code   is repealed.   25421. (a) Until the rule or order specified in subdivision (b) is adopted, no gas producer shall knowingly sell, supply, or transport landfill gas to a gas corporation, and no gas corporation shall knowingly purchase landfill gas, if that gas contains vinyl chloride in a concentration that exceeds the operative no significant risk level set forth in Article 7 (commencing with Section 12701) of Chapter 3 of Division 2 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. (b) On or before January 1, 1990, the Public Utilities Commission shall, by rule or order, specify the maximum amount of vinyl chloride that may be found in landfill gas pursuant to the requirements of subdivision (a). (c) No gas corporation shall knowingly and intentionally expose any customer, employee, or other person to gas from a landfill if that gas contains any chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable warning to that individual, except as provided by Section 25249.10. (d) Every person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases landfill gas for sale offsite to a gas corporation shall, twice each month, sample and test the gas at the point of distribution for the presence of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity in accordance with the test guidelines prepared under Section 41805.5. The air pollution control district or air quality management district within which the landfill is situated shall review the testing procedures for compliance with the guidelines and require the correction of any deficiencies. The district shall require, among other things, that the gas be analyzed by a laboratory certified by the department and shall transmit the results of the analysis to the department for its determination of compliance or noncompliance with subdivisions (a) and (b). The department shall fix and impose upon the gas producer a fee to cover its costs under this subdivision. The results of each sample and test shall be reported promptly to the gas corporation to which the landfill gas is sold, and any person or public agency requesting a copy of the report. (e) Nothing in this section prohibits the direct delivery of landfill gas for the generation of electricity, the production of steam, or other industrial application. (f) The gas corporation shall obtain the results of the test conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) and shall purchase no gas which the test shows to contain vinyl chloride that exceeds the amount permitted in subdivision (a), or if the rule or order has been adopted, as specified in subdivision (b). (g) This section applies only to landfill gas delivered to the pipeline of a gas corporation.   SEC. 3.   Section 25421 is added to the   Health and Safety Code   , to read:   25421. (a) On or before May 15, 2013, all of the following shall be completed: (1) The office, in consultation with the board, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose risks to human health and that are found in biogas at concentrations that significantly exceed the concentrations of those constituents in natural gas. The office, in consultation with the board, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall update this list at least every five years. (2) The office shall determine health protective levels for the list of constituents of concern identified pursuant to paragraph (1). In determining those health protective levels, the office shall consider potential health impacts and risks, including, but not limited to, health impacts and risks to utility workers and gas end users. The office shall update these levels at least every five years. (3) The board shall identify realistic exposure scenarios and, in consultation with the office, shall identify the health risks associated with the exposure scenarios for the constituents of concern identified by the office pursuant to paragraph (1). The board shall update the exposure scenarios, and, in consultation with the office, the health risks associated with the exposure scenarios, at least every five years. (4) Upon completion of the responsibilities required pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (3), the board, in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency shall determine the appropriate concentrations of constituents of concern. In determining those concentrations, the board shall use the health protective levels identified pursuant to paragraph (2) and the exposure scenarios identified pursuant to paragraph (3). The concentrations shall be updated at least every five years by the board in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency. (5) The board, in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall identify reasonable and prudent monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements, separately for each source of biogas, that are sufficient to ensure compliance with the health protective standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (d). The board, in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle and the California Environmental Protection Agency shall update the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements at least every five years. (b) Actions taken pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not constitute regulations and shall be exempt from the administrative regulations and rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government Code). (c) On or before September 15, 2013, for biomethane that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline, the commission shall, by rule or order, adopt standards that specify, for constituents that may be found in that biomethane, concentrations that are reasonably necessary to ensure both of the following: (1) The protection of human health. In making this specification, the commission shall give due deference to the determinations of the board pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a). (2) Pipeline and pipeline facility integrity and safety. (d) To ensure pipeline and pipeline facility integrity and safety, on or before September 15, 2013, the commission, giving due deference to the board's determinations, shall, by rule or order, adopt the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements identified pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a). (e) Every five years, or earlier if new information becomes available, the commission shall review and update the standards for the protection of human health and pipeline integrity and safety adopted pursuant to subdivision (c), as well as the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements adopted pursuant to subdivision (d). (f) (1) A person shall not inject biogas into a common carrier pipeline unless the biogas satisfies both the standards set by the commission pursuant to subdivision (c), as well as the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements of subdivision (d). (2) The commission shall require gas corporation tariffs to condition access to common carrier pipelines on the applicable customer meeting the standards and requirements adopted by the commission pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d). (g) (1) A person shall not knowingly sell, supply, or transport, or knowingly cause to be sold, supplied, or transported, biogas collected from a hazardous waste landfill to a gas corporation through a common carrier pipeline. (2) A gas corporation shall not knowingly purchase gas collected from a hazardous waste landfill through a common carrier pipeline.   SEC. 3.   SEC. 4.  Section 25326 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 25326. (a) The commission shall hold public hearings to identify impediments that limit procurement of electricity generated from biomethane in California, including, but not limited to, impediments to interconnection. The commission shall offer solutions to those impediments as part of the integrated energy policy report prepared pursuant to Section 25302. (b) For the purposes of this section, "biomethane" means  landfill gas or digester gas, consistent with subdivision (a) of Section 25741   biogas that meets the   standards adopted pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 25421 of the Health and Safety Code for injection into a common carrier pipeline  .  SEC. 4.   SEC. 5.  Section 399.24 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 399.24. (a) To meet the energy and transportation needs of the state, the commission shall adopt policies and programs that promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane. The policies and programs shall facilitate the development of a variety of sources of in-state biomethane. (b) For the purposes of this section, "biomethane" means  landfill gas or digester gas, consistent with subdivision (a) of Section 25741 of the Public Resources Code     biogas that meets the standards adopted pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 25421 of the Health and Safety Code for injection into a common carrier pipeline .  SEC. 5.   SEC. 6.  Section 769 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 769. For each gas corporation, the commission shall adopt pipeline access rules that  will ensure nondiscriminatory open access to each corporation's gas pipeline system to any party for the purpose of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the delivery of gas     ensure that each gas corporation provides nondiscriminatory open access to its gas pipeline system to any party for the purposes of physically interconnecting with the gas pipeline system and effectuating the delivery of   gas  .  SEC. 6.   SEC. 7.  This act shall become operative only if this act and Assembly Bill 2196 of the 2011-12 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2013.  SEC. 7.   SEC. 8.  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.