Bill Text: CA AB2356 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Electrical corporations: failure to comply with safety standards or requirements: enforcement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-05 - Re-referred to Com. on U. & E. [AB2356 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB2356-Amended.html

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 04, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2356


Introduced by Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Robert Rivas)
(Principal coauthor: Senator Hill)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chiu, Grayson, Levine, Limón, Petrie-Norris, Smith, Mark Stone, and Wicks)
(Coauthors: Senators Glazer and Wiener)

February 18, 2020


An act to amend Sections 2107 and 2110 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electrical corporations.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2356, as amended, Bauer-Kahan. Electrical corporations: failure to comply with safety standards or requirements: enforcement.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. Existing law authorizes the commission, after a hearing, to require every public utility to construct, maintain, and operate its line, plant, system, equipment, apparatus, tracks, and premises in a manner so as to promote and safeguard the health and safety of its employees, passengers, customers, and the public. The Public Utilities Act provides that any public utility that violates any provision of the California Constitution or the act, or that fails or neglects to comply with any order, decision, decree, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, where a penalty has not otherwise been provided, is subject to a penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $100,000 for each offense.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county, as specified, to bring an action in the name of the people, pursuant to the above-described civil penalty provision, against an electrical corporation involving a failure to comply with safety standards or requirements. The bill would provide that when the conduct that constitutes the violation or failure to comply is of a continuing nature, each day of that violation or failure to comply is subject to a separate and distinct civil penalty. The bill would require that an action seeking these civil penalties be commenced within 4 years after the cause of action accrues.
The Public Utilities Act provides that every public utility and every officer, agent, or employee of a public utility, who violates or fails to comply with, or who procures, aids, or abets any violation by any public utility of any provision of the California Constitution or of the act, or who fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, or who procures, aids, or abets any public utility in a violation or noncompliance, in a case in which a penalty has not otherwise been provided, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both fine and imprisonment.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county, as specified, to bring an action in the name of the people, pursuant to the above-described criminal provision, against an electrical corporation involving a failure to comply with safety standards or requirements. The bill would provide that when the conduct that constitutes the violation or failure to comply is of a continuing nature, each day of that violation or failure to comply is a separate and distinct offense subject to a fine or imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment. The bill would require that an action seeking a fine or imprisonment pursuant to the above-described criminal provision be commenced within 4 years after the commission discovers the violation or failure to comply, or within 4 years after completion of the violation or failure to comply, whichever is later.
The Public Utilities Act provides that all penalties accruing under the act are cumulative, and a suit for the recovery of one penalty does not bar or affect the recovery of any other penalty or forfeiture or serve as a bar to any criminal prosecution against any public utility, or any officer, director, agent, or employee of the public utility, or any other corporation or person.
This bill would expressly provide that the above-described civil penalty and criminal sanction provisions are in addition to other fines or penalties imposed by other law.
The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to ensure that where enforcement of provisions affecting public utilities is not specifically vested in some other officer or tribunal, that those provisions are enforced and obeyed and that violations are promptly prosecuted and penalties are recovered and collected. To accomplish this requirement, the commission is authorized to sue in the name of the people and to request the Attorney General or a district attorney to aid in any investigation, hearing, or trial and to institute and prosecute actions or proceedings.
This bill would provide that the bill does not diminish the duty of the commission to be the primary entity responsible to ensure that the laws pertaining to public utilities are enforced and obeyed and does not diminish the authority of the commission to request the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county to aid in any investigation, hearing, or trial pursuant to the act.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Utility Accountability and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2020.

SEC. 2.

 Section 2107 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

2107.
 (a) (1) Any public utility that violates or fails to comply with any provision of the Constitution of this state or of this part, or that fails or neglects to comply with any part or provision of any order, decision, decree, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, in a case in which a penalty has not otherwise been provided, provided in this code, is subject to a penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500), nor more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), for each offense.
(2) When the conduct constituting the violation or failure to comply is of a continuing nature, each day of that violation or failure to comply is subject to a separate and distinct penalty pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) The penalty imposed pursuant to this section is in addition to other fines or penalties imposed by other law.
(b) (1) The Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county may bring an action pursuant to this section, in the name of the people, against an electrical corporation involving a failure to comply with safety standards or requirements.
(2) In any action brought by the Attorney General or a district attorney pursuant to this subdivision, the Attorney General or district attorney shall provide the commission with notice of the action.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, a proper county to bring an action against an electrical corporation is a county or city and county where the violation occurred or, if the failure to comply with a safety standard or requirement results in personal injury or property damage, a county or city and county where the injury or damage occurred.
(c) An action brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrues. No cause of action barred on December 31, 2020, shall be revived as a result of the amendments to this section that became operative on January 1, 2021.

SEC. 3.

 Section 2110 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

2110.
 (a) (1) Every public utility and every officer, agent, or employee of any public utility, who violates or fails to comply with, or who procures, aids, or abets any violation by any public utility of any provision of the California Constitution or of this part, or who fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, or who procures, aids, or abets any public utility in the violation or noncompliance in a case in which a penalty has not otherwise been provided, provided in this code, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both fine and imprisonment.
(2) When the conduct constituting the violation or failure to comply is of a continuing nature, each day of that violation or failure to comply is a separate and distinct offense subject to a fine or imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment, pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) The criminal sanction imposed pursuant to this section is in addition to other fines or penalties imposed by other law.
(b) (1) The Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county may bring an action pursuant to this section, in the name of the people, against an electrical corporation involving a failure to comply with safety standards or requirements.
(2) In any action brought by the Attorney General or a district attorney pursuant to this subdivision, the Attorney General or district attorney shall provide the commission with notice of the action.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, a proper county to bring an action against an electrical corporation is a county or city and county where the violation occurred or, if the failure to comply with a safety standard or requirement results in personal injury or property damage, a county or city and county where the injury or damage occurred.
(c) An action brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced within four years after the commission discovers the violation or failure to comply, or within four years after completion of the violation or failure to comply, whichever is later. No action barred on December 31, 2020, shall be revived as a result of the amendments to this section that became operative on January 1, 2021.

SEC. 4.

 Nothing in this act diminishes the duty of the Public Utilities Commission, pursuant to Section 2101 of the Public Utilities Code, to be the primary entity responsible to ensure that the laws pertaining to public utilities are enforced and obeyed, nor does this act diminish the authority of the commission, pursuant to that section, to request the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county to aid in any investigation, hearing, or trial pursuant to the Public Utilities Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 201)) of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code.
feedback