California Senate Bill SB448 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 448AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Senator Leno FEBRUARY 21, 2013 An act to  amend Section 25357 of   add Section 25367 to  the Public Resources Code, relating to energy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 448, as amended, Leno. Energy: petroleum supply and pricing. Existing law establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission  (commission)  in the  Natural  Resources Agency, and specifies the powers and duties of the commission with respect to energy resources in the state. Under existing law, various provisions regulate petroleum supply and pricing. Existing law  further  requires the commission to obtain and analyze monthly production reports prepared by the State Oil and Gas Supervisor under a specific provision.  Existing law authorizes the State Lands Commission to   enter into oil and gas leases for the extraction and removal of oil and gas deposits on state lands. Existing law requires the leases to include a royalty provision.   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this latter provision.   This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature from moneys generated by the collection of royalty payments from the oil and gas leases, establish the Office of Price Investigation and Manipulation Prevention in the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and would require the office to identify fuel price manipulation, establish a methodology to determine whether fuel price manipulation is occurring, and analyze data and investigate for suspected fuel price manipulation. The bill would require the office, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and other relevant state agencies, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on further legislative recommendations to limit the amount of price volatility and comparative price increase in the California transportation fuel market.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 25367 is added to the   Public Resources Code   , to read:   25367. (a) The Office of Price Investigation and Manipulation Prevention is hereby established in the commission. (b) The office shall do all of the following: (1) Establish a definition for transportation fuel market manipulation. (2) Identify data necessary to determine whether fuel pricing manipulation is occurring that includes all of the following: (A) Individual fuel producer data, including all of the following: (i) Production or throughput data. (ii) Emission data or operational data. (iii) Sales volumes. (iv) Price. (B) Marketwide pricing data. (3) Establish an analytical methodology necessary to evaluate whether fuel price manipulation is occurring that includes both of the following: (A) Producer level analysis. (B) Marketwide analysis, comparing real time prices to expected prices based on modeling output. (4) Analyze the data and investigate for suspected fuel price manipulation using both of the following: (A) Producer level analysis. (B) Marketwide analysis. (c) The office, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and other relevant state agencies, shall prepare and submit to the Legislature, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, a report on further legislative recommendations to limit the amount of price volatility and comparative price increase in the California transportation fuel market. The report shall include an evaluation of strategies doing all of the following: (1) Increasing fuel diversification. (2) Reducing overall demand of gasoline and diesel. (3) Increasing fuel storage. (4) Leveraging the state's purchasing power related to the state's fleet. (5) Increasing timely imports of fuels during price swings. (d) Upon appropriation by the Legislature from moneys generated by the collection of royalty payments from oil and gas leases entered into pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 6826) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 6, the commission shall implement this section.   SECTION 1.   Section 25357 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 25357. The commission shall obtain and analyze monthly production reports prepared by the State Oil and Gas Supervisor under Section 3227.