BILL ANALYSIS
SB 578
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2005
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Ira Ruskin, Chair
SB 578 (Escutia) - As Amended: May 4, 2005
SENATE VOTE : 34-4
SUBJECT : Railroads: safety
SUMMARY : Requires a) railroads to report information about
uncontrolled train movement incidents to the Office of Emergency
Services (OES), whether or not a spill or release occurs, if the
incident could have affected public health and safety, and b)
requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to
investigate the incident. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a railroad corporation, if there is a runaway train
or any other uncontrolled train movement, involving a load of
hazardous materials, that threatens public health and safety,
to include in their OES notification the same information that
would be required if the uncontrolled train movement had
resulted in the release of hazardous material.
2)Directs the CPUC's division of consumer protection and safety
to investigate any uncontrolled train movement that involves
any railcar containing hazardous material and to report its
findings to CPUC for inclusion in the report to the
Legislature.
3)Replaces the references to the CPUC's division of "safety" to
the division of "consumer protection and safety" to match the
current name of the division.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires railroads to annually submit to OES handling
guidelines for the transportation of hazardous materials.
2)Requires railroads, if there is a train incident resulting in
a release of hazardous materials, or an overturned car or an
impact that threatens a release of hazardous materials, to
provide the emergency response agency with the following: a) a
list of each car in the train and the order of the cars; b)
the contents of each car; c) the identification of the cars
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and contents in the train involved in the incident; d)
emergency procedures for the release of a hazardous material.
3)Requires railroads to promptly notify OES if there is a
runaway train or any other uncontrolled train movement that
threatens health and safety.
4)Defines, under federal regulations, hazardous material to mean
"a substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation
has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to
health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and
has been designated as hazardous pursuant to" federal
hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The
term includes poisonous or explosive substances, hazardous
wastes, marine pollutants, and radionuclides. The term
generally does not include petroleum, crude oil natural gas,
liquefied natural gas, or synthetic gas usable for fuel.
5)Requires CPUC to produce two annual reports to the
Legislature.
a) The Public Utilities Code Section 316 report is due on
the first day of December of each year and contains a
complete account of its transactions and proceedings for
the preceding fiscal year, together with such other facts,
suggestions, and recommendations as it deems of value to
the people of the State.
b) The Public Utilities Code Section 7711 report is due on
or before July 1 of each year and it covers sites on
railroad lines in the state that CPUC finds to be
hazardous.
FISCAL EFFECT : Minor or absorbable according to Senate
Appropriations Committee (Rule 28.8).
COMMENTS :
1)According to the author, this has been a bad year for train
accidents. In January 2005, a train accident in South
Carolina resulted in a chlorine gas spill. That accident
killed nine, injured hundreds and led to the evacuation of
5,400 people. Also in January, a train accident in Glendale
killed 11 and hospitalized over 200 people.
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2)The author also draws focus to an incident closer to home that
occurred on June 20, 2003 in which 31 cars of a Union Pacific
freight train escaped from a rail yard in Montclair, rolling
uncontrolled through Pomona and reaching speeds of up to 86
mph. 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, damaging several more,
but causing no loss of life. This accident was the catalyst
for a state law requiring railroads to notify OES of any
uncontrolled train movement that threatens public health and
safety.
3)This bill expands this requirement to those instances where
there is any uncontrolled train movement involving railcars
carrying hazardous materials . Such notification shall include
the list of railcars and order of the cars, their contents,
and emergency handling procedures for the hazardous materials
in those railcars. The bill also requires CPUC to investigate
and report on these incidents to the Legislature as part of
its annual Public Utilities Code Section 316 responsibilities.
Federal Regulations:
4)Federal regulations require railcars carrying specified
hazardous materials to carry external warning placards. These
placards, required on both ends of the railcar, identify the
class of hazard (e.g. explosives, toxic materials,
radioactive). The federal Department of Homeland Security
(HSec) is concerned that the placards will help terrorists
find targets. DHS has therefore proposed eliminating the
placard requirement, making it much more difficult for
terrorists to identify targets but also making it harder for
public safety agencies to identify and properly respond to
hazardous material spills. Recently however, HSec announced
that it will continue the placarding program for rail
transport of hazardous materials.
Reports to the Legislature :
5)This bill requires the information gathered by the CPUC to be
included in its Section 316 report. That report shall contain
a complete account of its transactions and proceedings for the
preceding fiscal year, together with such other facts,
suggestions, and recommendations as it deems of value to the
people of the State.
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6)Another report, under Section 7711 contains information
regarding sites along railroad lines in the state that CPUC
finds to be hazardous. The 7711 report shall include, but not
be limited to:
a) Information on all of the following: i) a list of all
railroad derailment accident sites in the state on which
accidents have occurred within at least the previous five
years; ii) the nature and probable causes of the accidents;
and iii) whether the accidents occurred at or near sites
that CPUC felt were hazardous.
b) A list of all railroad sites in the state that CPUC
feels pose a local safety hazard. Factors that CPUC shall
consider in determining a local safety hazard may include:
i) special skills of train operators in negotiating
particular segments of railroad line; ii) special railroad
equipment used in negotiating particular segments of
railroad line; iii) types of commodities transported on or
near particular segments of railroad line; iv) hazards
posed by the release of the commodity into the environment;
and v) proximity of railroad activity to human activity or
sensitive environmental areas.
Potential Amendment
7)The author and the Committee may wish to consider whether CPUC
reporting requirement in this bill should be moved to the
Section 7711 report as the subject matter of this bill's
reporting requirements seems to be more closely related to the
7711 concerns. If the author were to change this bill's
reporting requirements to the 7711 report, nothing would
preclude the CPUC from also including information gathered
pursuant to this measure in its Section 316 report as part of
its recommendations to the Legislature there as well.
8)Suggested amendment: On page 5, line 15 change Section 316 to
Section 7711.
Double Referral : This measure has been double referred to the
Assembly Committee on Transportation.
Related Legislation
SB 419 (Simitian) This bill requires OES to create and maintain
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a hazardous rail tank car database, which contains specified
information, including a current certificate of compliance
provided by the legal owner or lessee of the rail tank car
stating that the rail tank car meets certain standards. This
bill will also be heard on June 22, 2005 by ES&TM. It has been
double referred to the Assembly Committee on Transportation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Public Utilities Commission
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Sierra Club California
Opposition
None on File.
Analysis Prepared by : Michael Endicott/ E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965