California Senate Bill SB380 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 380AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 7, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 16, 2016 AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 27, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley (Principal coauthors: Senators De Len and Huff) (Coauthors: Senators Allen, Hertzberg, and Runner) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Wilk) FEBRUARY 24, 2015 An act to add  and repeal  Section 3217  to   of  the Public Resources Code, and to add Section 713 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to natural gas, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 380, as amended, Pavley. Natural gas storage: moratorium. (1) Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field, so as to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources, as provided; to permit owners and operators of wells to utilize all known methods and practices to increase the ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons; and to perform the supervisor's duties in a manner that encourages the wise development of oil and gas resources to best meet oil and gas needs in this state. Under existing law, a person who fails to comply with certain requirements relating to the regulation of oil or gas operations is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the supervisor to immediately institute a moratorium on injections of natural gas into any  gas storage  wells located within and serving the Aliso Canyon  natural gas  storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles until specified conditions are met, including that the integrity of each  gas storage  well has been quantitatively and objectively evaluated using state-of-the-art technology, as determined by the supervisor with input from independent experts, and the risks posed by  gas storage  well failure have been evaluated. The bill would require the division to hold at least one public meeting concerning the technical methods and equipment to be used to evaluate  gas storage  well integrity and the risks posed by  gas storage  well failure, request the independent experts to also develop objective criteria to assess the overall risk of the  Aliso Canyon natural gas storage  facility, and make that objective criteria available to the public. The bill would also require the supervisor to prohibit the production of natural gas by any  gas storage  well originally drilled earlier than 1954 at the Aliso Canyon  natural gas  storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles until specified conditions are met, except as specified. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.  The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021.  (2) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is authorized to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state. This bill would require the  commission   commission, no later than   July 1, 2017,  to determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles while still maintaining energy reliability for the region, and to consult with specified entities in making its determination. (3) 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. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 3217 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 3217. (a) The supervisor shall immediately institute a moratorium on injections of natural gas into any  gas storage  wells located within and serving the Aliso Canyon  natural gas  storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles until all of the following conditions are met: (1) The integrity of each gas storage  well has been quantitatively and objectively evaluated using state-of-the-art technology, as determined by the supervisor with input from independent experts, and the risks posed by  gas storage  well failure have been evaluated. (A) The age, history, and condition of each  gas storage  well shall be specifically addressed, with particular emphasis on  gas storage  wells drilled prior to 2006. (B) The technical methods and equipment used to evaluate  gas storage  well integrity and the risks posed by  gas storage  well failure shall be determined by the supervisor with input from independent experts and the public. (C) The division shall hold at least one public meeting concerning the technical methods and equipment. The division shall request the independent experts to also develop objective criteria to assess the overall risk of the  Aliso Canyon natural gas storage  facility. The division shall make the objective criteria available to the public. (2) Any  gas storage  well posing an enhanced risk of failure has been repaired to mitigate the enhanced risk or plugged and abandoned. (3) The supervisor determines that the overall risk from  gas storage  well failure satisfies the supervisor's duty pursuant to Section 3106 to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural  resources   resources,  and other  requirements.   requirements, as specified in Section 3106.  (4) The Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission concur with the supervisor's determination in paragraph (3). (b) The supervisor shall prohibit the production of natural gas by any  gas storage  well originally drilled earlier than 1954 at the Aliso Canyon  natural gas  storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles until after the integrity of and the risks associated with any of these  gas storage  wells have been evaluated and determinations by the supervisor, with the concurrence of the commissions, have been made pursuant to the process described in subdivision (a), except when necessary to do either of the following: (1) Respond to the uncontrolled leak of natural gas from the "Standard Sesnon 25" well (American Petroleum Institute identification number 03700776). (2) Maintain regional energy reliability, at the written direction of the commissions.  (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that date.  SEC. 2. Section 713 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 713. The  commission   commission, no later than July 1, 2017,  shall determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles while still maintaining energy reliability for the region. The commission shall consult with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Independent System Operator,  the local publicly owned utilities that rely on natural gas for electricity generation,  the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation, and other relevant government entities, in making its determination. SEC. 3. 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. SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to mitigate, at the earliest possible time, ongoing harm from the gas leak at the Aliso Canyon  nat   ural gas  storage facility, and to evaluate the integrity of and the risks associated with older  gas storage  wells at that facility, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.