BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1618
Author: Firebaugh (D), et al
Amended: 4/28/04 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE : Not relevant
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 6-0, 8/28/03
AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Battin, Dunn, Murray, Vasconcellos
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow, McClintock, Sher
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 25-4, 3/25/04
AYES: Aanestad, Alarcon, Alpert, Battin, Burton, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez, Karnette,
Kuehl, Machado, Margett, McPherson, Murray, Ortiz,
Perata, Romero, Scott, Sher, Speier, Torlakson,
Vasconcellos
NOES: Ashburn, Brulte, Hollingsworth, Johnson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ackerman, Bowen, Denham, Ducheny,
Knight, McClintock, Morrow, Oller, Poochigian, Soto,
Vincent
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 2/24/04 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Railroad corporations: derailments
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires railroad corporations to
CONTINUED
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develop a protocol to quickly inform the State Office of
Emergency Services, the State Department of the California
Highway Patrol, and county public safety agencies when
there is a runaway train or other uncontrolled train
movement.
Senate Floor Amendments of 4/28/04 make two clarifications.
First, the amendments specify that the communications
protocol should involve county, not local, public safety
agencies. Second, the requirement for railroads to notify
county public agencies is met by the railroad communicating
with the State Office of Emergency Services, who in turn is
responsible for notifying county public safety agencies.
Senate Floor Amendments of 3/22/04 change the due date of
the protocol from March 1, 2004 to 90 days after the
effective date of the statute. When this bill passed the
Senate on September 11, 2003, by a vote of 27-7, the March
1, 2004 date was reasonable. However, the Assembly did not
pass the bill until February 24, 2004 making the March 1
date impossible to meet. This change is being made at the
request of the Governor's Office.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/8/03 add the State Department
of the California Highway Patrol to the list of entities
that must be contacted by a railroad corporations in the
event of a runaway train.
NOTE: Senate amendments delete the prior version which
related to motor vehicle dealers.
ANALYSIS : Current federal law provides the Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA) with the authority to
establish safety and operating standards for interstate
railroads. Enforcement of those standards has been
delegated by the FRA to the State Public Utilities
Commission (PUC).
Current state law requires the PUC to investigate any
railroad accidents.
Current PUC regulations require railroads to immediately
notify local public safety agencies of any release or
threatened release of any hazardous materials where there
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is a reasonable belief that the release poses a significant
harm to people, property, or the environment.
This bill requires the PUC to require every railroad
corporation to, within 90 days of the effective date of
this statute taking effect, in consultation with, and with
approval by, the State Office of Emergency Services (OES),
develop a protocol to quickly inform OES, the State
Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and
county public safety agencies when there is a runaway train
or any other uncontrolled train movement that threatens
public health and safety.
This bill provides that a railroad corporation must
promptly notify OES, CHP, and designated county public
safety agencies, through a communication to the Warning
Center of OES, if there is a runaway train or any other
uncontrolled train movement that threatens public health
and safety, pursuant to the railroad corporation's
communications protocol developed pursuant to this bill.
Background
On June 20, 2003, 31 cars of a Union Pacific (UP) freight
train escaped from a rail yard in Montclair, rolling
uncontrolled through Pomona and reaching speeds of up to 86
miles per hour. Twenty five minutes after breaking free,
and 28 miles down the tracks, the cars were intentionally
derailed in the City of Commerce, destroying two homes and
damaging several others, but causing no loss of life or
injuries.
Local public safety authorities were not notified by UP at
any time before the derailment, though there is no legal
obligation for the railroad operator to do so.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the PUC
are independently investigating the accident. The PUC
expects to issue its report in September or October, while
the NTSB report is expected sometime before the end of the
year.
Comments
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While a major disaster was avoided when the UP railcars
were derailed in Commerce, that was more a matter of luck
than planning. The absence of any requirement to notify
down-track public safety officials of a runaway train is a
glaring hole in railroad safety regulation. This bill
simply requires railroads to establish communications
procedures with those public safety agencies and OES. This
bill provides the railroads with flexibility in
establishing those procedures and it does not require the
PUC to develop the procedures itself.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/29/04)
Union Pacific Railroad Company
City of Commerce
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company
Union Pacific Railroad Company
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bogh, Calderon,
Campbell, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn,
Corbett, Correa, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton, Dymally,
Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman,
Haynes, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jackson, Keene, Kehoe,
Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine,
Lieber, Liu, Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews,
Maze, McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi,
Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra,
Pavley, Plescia, Reyes, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Runner,
Salinas, Samuelian, Spitzer, Steinberg, Vargas, Wiggins,
Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Nunez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bermudez, Cox, Jerome Horton, Longville,
Simitian, Strickland, Wesson
NC:mel 4/29/04 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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