BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 772|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 772
Author: Bowen (D)
Amended: 4/29/03
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 4/22/03
AYES: Escutia, Cedillo, Ducheny, Kuehl, Sher
NOES: Ackerman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development
Commission reports: confidentiality and
disclosure
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes the test to be used by the
State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission in granting a written request for disaggregated
or unmasked records of confidential information it has
received or developed.
ANALYSIS : Existing law permits persons submitting
information to the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (ERCDC) for the purpose of
developing the Integrated Energy Policy Report to request
that specific information be held in confidence, and
requires the ERCDC to grant the request under specified
circumstances.
CONTINUED
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Existing law deems confidential information presented to or
developed by the ERCDC as required by law. Existing law
requires the ERCDC to aggregate or mask confidential
information to the extent necessary to assure
confidentiality if public disclosure of the specific
information would result in unfair competitive disadvantage
to the person supplying the information.
Existing law provides the procedures for handling requests
for records of information collected or developed by the
ERCDC. With respect to a request to disclose a
disaggregated or unmasked record of information designated
as confidential by the ERCDC, existing law requires the
ERCDC to deny the request if the disclosure will result in
an unfair competitive disadvantage to the person that
submitted the information.
This bill, with respect to request to disclose a
disaggregated or unmasked record of information designated
as confidential by the ERCDC, will require the ERCDC to
grant the request if the disclosure would not result in
unfair competitive disadvantage to the person that
submitted the information, unless the public interest
served by nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public
interest served by disclosure, or unless another applicable
provision of law exempts the information from disclosure.
The bill exempts information withheld by the ERCDC from
disclosure under the ERCDC.
Background
SB 1389 (Bowen), Chapter 568, Statutes of 2002, repealed
the planning and forecasting provisions of the
Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Act and enacted a new mandate for the ERCDC to
prepare an integrated energy policy report, based on data
to be collected and information to be developed by the
ERCDC.
As heard and approved by the Senate, SB 1389 contained
specific provisions for the handling of requests for
records of information submitted to the ERCDC for the
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purpose of preparing the Integrated Energy Policy Report.
This bill also contained language comporting its provisions
with the requirements, intent and interpretation of the
Public Records Act, which generally applies to records of
all public agencies. This language was deleted form SB
1389 in the Assembly and the enrolled form of the bill.
This bill reinserts this language into Public Resources
Code Section 25322.
Prior Legislation
SB 1389 (Bowen), Chapter 568, Statutes of 2002 . Passed the
Senate on August 29, 2002 with a vote of 26-7.
Conflict with AB 808
AB 808 (Richman) creates a new State Department of Energy
that will take over the responsibilities of various
agencies, including the ERCDC. The bill repeals Section
25322 of the Public Resources Code. AB 808 is currently in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states that
even though it was agreed to delete this provision from SB
1389 when the bill was heard in the Assembly Utilities and
Commerce Committee, they believe it "strikes the proper
balance between the private interest in maintaining the
confidentiality of sensitive commercial information and the
public interest in understanding the functioning of energy
markets and institutions which serve as the basis for
important public decisions."
RJG:cm 5/20/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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