CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 802

Introduced by Senator Glazer
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan)
(Coauthors: Senators Dodd, Hill, Nielsen, and Wilk)

January 07, 2020

An act to add Article 9.3 (commencing with Section 42000) to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 8385 of, and to add Section 8386.7 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to nonvehicular air pollution.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 802, as introduced, Glazer. Emergency backup generators: health facilities: permit operating condition exclusion.
Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to identify toxic air contaminants that are emitted into the ambient air of the state and to establish airborne toxic control measures to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants from nonvehicular sources.
This bill would require an air district to adopt a rule or revise its existing rules, consistent with federal law, to allow a health facility that has received a permit from the district to construct and operate an emergency backup generator to use that emergency backup generator during a deenergization event without having that usage count toward any time limitation on actual usage and routine testing and maintenance included as a condition for issuance of that permit. By requiring air districts to adopt or revise its rules, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Electrical cooperatives are subject to the regulatory authority of the commission, except as specified. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to annually prepare and submit a wildfire mitigation plan to the commission for review and approval, as specified. Following approval, the commission is required to oversee compliance with the plans. Existing law requires each local publicly owned electric utility and electrical cooperative to annually prepare a wildfire mitigation plan and to verify that the wildfire mitigation plan complies with all applicable rules, regulations, and standards, as appropriate. Existing law requires a wildfire mitigation plan of an electrical corporation to include, among other things, protocols for deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider the associated impacts on public safety, as well as protocols related to mitigating the public safety impacts of those protocols, including impacts on critical first responders and on health and communications infrastructure. Existing law requires a wildfire mitigation plan of an electrical corporation to also include appropriate and feasible procedures for notifying a customer who may be impacted by the deenergizing of electrical lines and requires these procedures to consider the need to notify, as a priority, critical first responders, health care facilities, and operators of telecommunications infrastructure with premises within the footprint of a potential deenergization event. Existing law requires that an electrical cooperative and a local publicly owned electric utility consider these matters when developing and implementing a wildfire mitigation plan.
If an electrical corporation, electrical cooperative, or local publicly owned electric utility has undertaken a deenergization event during a calendar year, this bill would require the electrical corporation, electrical cooperative, or local publicly owned electric utility, by January 30 of the following calendar year, to submit a report with specified information to each air quality management district and air pollution control district affected by the deenergization event.
Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because this bill would require action by the commission to implement its requirements, and a violation of that action would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. By requiring local publicly owned electric utilities to report matters to air quality management districts and air pollution control districts the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Article 9.3 (commencing with Section 42000) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 4 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
Article  9.3. Emergency Backup Generators

42000.
 For purposes of this article, the following terms apply:
(a) “Deenergization event” means the proactive interruption of electrical service for the purpose of mitigating or avoiding the risk of causing a wildfire.
(b) “Electrical corporation” has the same meaning as defined in Section 218 of the Public Utilities Code.
(c) “Emergency backup generator” means a device used for the generation of electricity for emergency use that is subject to the State Air Resources Board’s Airborne Toxic Control Measure for Stationary Compression Ignition Engines (Section 93115.1 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations, and following). For these purposes, “emergency use” has the same meaning as defined in Section 93115.4 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
(d) “Health facility” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1250.
(e) “Local publicly owned electric utility” has the same meaning as defined in Section 224.3 of the Public Utilities Code.
(f) “Permit” means a permit issued by the district pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 42300) of Chapter 4.

42001.
 Consistent with federal law, a district shall adopt a rule, or revise its existing rules, to allow a health facility that has received a permit from the district to construct and operate an emergency backup generator to use that emergency backup generator during a deenergization event without having that usage count toward any time limitation on actual usage and routine testing and maintenance included as a condition for issuance of that permit. For a health facility that receives notice of a planned deenergization event, whether made specifically to the facility or made generally to the public, the period of permissable use exempt from the time limitation on actual usage shall encompass the period commencing when the health facility is notified that the deenergization will or will likely commence, and concluding when the health facility receives notification, whether specific or general, that reliable electrical service has been restored.

SEC. 2.

 Section 8385 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

8385.
 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the following shall apply:
(1) “Compliance period” means a period of approximately one year.
(2) “Deenergization event” means the proactive interruption of electrical service for the purpose of mitigating or avoiding the risk of causing a wildfire.

(2)

(3) “Electrical cooperative” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2776.
(b) The commission shall supervise an electrical corporation’s compliance with the requirements of this chapter pursuant to the Public Utilities Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 201) of Division 1). Nothing in this chapter affects the commission’s authority or jurisdiction over an electrical cooperative or local publicly owned electrical corporation. electric utility.

SEC. 3.

 Section 8386.7 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

8386.7.
 If an electrical corporation, electrical cooperative, or local publicly owned electric utility has undertaken a deenergization event during a calendar year, the electrical utility shall submit a report, by January 30 of the following calendar year, to each air quality management district and air pollution control district affected by the deenergization event that includes all of the following:
(a) A description of the area affected by the deenergization event.
(b) A description of when the deenergization event began and when reliable electrical service was restored.
(c) A description of any notifications specifically provided to health care facilities that they would or would likely be affected by a deenergizing of electrical lines and when the deenergization event would likely begin or, absent specific notification, any notifications made generally to the public of when the deenergization event would or would likely commence.
(d) A description of any notifications specifically provided to health care facilities that reliable electrical service has been restored or, absent specific notification, any notifications made generally to the public that reliable electrical service has been restored.

SEC. 4.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain mandates because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or because 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.
With respect to other mandates, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.