BILL ANALYSIS
SB 578
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2005
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jenny Oropeza, Chair
SB 578 (Escutia) - As Amended: May 4, 2005
SENATE VOTE : 34-4
SUBJECT : Railroads: safety
SUMMARY : Requires 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
requires the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) 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 PUC'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 PUC for inclusion in the report to the
Legislature.
3)Replaces the references to the PUC'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
SB 578
Page 2
cars;
b) The contents of each car;
c) The identification of the cars and contents in the train
involved in the incident; and,
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 the United
States Department of Transportation (USDOT) 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 PUC to produce two annual reports to the Legislature:
a) Section 316 of the Public Utilities Code requires that a
report be submitted on the first day of December of each
year and contain a complete account of PUC's 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; and,
b) Section 7711 of the Public Utilities Code requires that
a report be submitted on or before July 1 of each year and
that it cover sites on railroad lines in the state that PUC
finds to be hazardous.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill was removed from the Senate
Appropriations Committee and sent to the Senate Third Reading
File pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.
SB 578
Page 3
COMMENTS : 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.
The author also draws focus to another Southern California
incident 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.
Prior legislation : In 2004, the Legislature enacted AB 1618
(Firebaugh), Chapter 125, which required railroads operating in
California to develop a protocol for rapid communications with
the OES, the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and designated
county public safety agencies in an endangered area in the event
of a runaway train or any other uncontrolled train movement.
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. This bill also requires PUC to investigate and
report on these incidents to the Legislature as part of its
annual Public Utilities Code Section 316 responsibilities.
Federal Regulations :
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. HSec has
therefore proposed eliminating the placard requirement, making
it much more difficult for terrorists to identify targets but
SB 578
Page 4
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 :
This bill requires the information gathered by the PUC 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.
Another report, under Section 7711 contains information
regarding sites along railroad lines in the state that PUC finds
to be hazardous. The 7711 report shall include, but not be
limited to:
1) 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 PUC felt were hazardous.
2) A list of all railroad sites in the state that PUC feels
pose a local safety hazard. Factors that PUC 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 : The following amendment was discussed in
the staff analysis for the Assembly Committee on Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials:
1) The author and the Committee may wish to consider
whether PUC reporting requirement in this bill should be
moved to the Section 7711 report as the subject matter of
SB 578
Page 5
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 PUC 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.
2) Suggested amendment: On page 5, line 15 change Section
316 to Section 7711.
Related Legislation : SB 419 (Simitian) requires OES to create
and maintain 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.
That bill was also heard in the Assembly Committee on
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials and is scheduled to be
heard in the Assembly Committee on Transportation today.
Double referral : This bill was also heard in the Assembly
Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Public Utilities Commission
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
County of Los Angeles
Sierra Club California
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Andrew Antwih / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093