BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 578|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 578
Author: Escutia (D)
Amended: 6/29/05
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNICATIONS COMM. : 8-0, 4/5/05
AYES: Escutia, Alarcon, Bowen, Campbell, Dunn, Kehoe,
Murray, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow, Battin, Cox
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-1, 4/25/05
AYES: Lowenthal, Runner, Campbell, Chesbro, Escutia,
Kuehl, Simitian
NOES: Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Figueroa
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 34-4, 6/1/05
AYES: Alarcon, Alquist, Bowen, Campbell, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Denham, Ducheny, Dunn, Dutton, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez,
Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Machado,
Maldonado, Margett, Migden, Morrow, Murray, Ortiz,
Perata, Poochigian, Romero, Runner, Scott, Simitian,
Soto, Speier, Torlakson, Vincent
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin, McClintock
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-15, 8/25/05 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Railroads: safety
CONTINUED
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SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires railroads to report
information about uncontrolled train movement incidents to
the Office of Emergency Services, whether or not a spill or
release occurs, if the incident could have affected public
health and safety. This bill requires the Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) to investigate the incident.
Assembly Amendments clarify which report the PUC is to
include the required information in.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires railroads to annually
submit to the Office of Emergency Services (OES) emergency
handling guidelines for the transportation of hazardous
materials.
Existing law requires railroads, if there is a train
incident resulting in a release of hazardous material, or
an overturned car or an impact that threatens a release of
hazardous material, to provide the emergency response
agency with (1) a list of each car in the train and the
order of the cars, (2) the contents of each car, (3)
identification of the cars and contents in the train
involved in the incident, and (4) emergency handling
procedures for the hazardous material involved.
Existing law requires railroads to promptly notify OES if
there is a runaway train or any other uncontrolled train
movement that threatens public health and safety.
Existing law defines, under federal regulations, hazardous
material to mean "a substance or material that the
Secretary of the Department 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. 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.
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Existing law requires the PUC to file an annual report to
the Legislature on railroad sites in California that the
state finds to be hazardous.
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 include its findings in an annual report to the
Legislature on sites along railroad lines found by the
state to be hazardous.
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.
Comments
On June 20, 2003, 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.
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
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Homeland Security (DHS) 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.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/05)
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Public Utilities Commission
Sierra Club California
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Baca, Bass, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez,
Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chavez, Chu,
Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre, Dymally, Emmerson,
Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Jerome
Horton, Shirley Horton, Jones, Karnette, Klehs, Koretz,
Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Matthews, McCarthy,
Montanez, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nation, Nava, Oropeza,
Parra, Pavley, Plescia, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Sharon
Runner, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Spitzer, Strickland,
Torrico, Tran, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Aghazarian, Cogdill, DeVore, Haynes, Houston, Huff,
Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie, Maze, Mountjoy, Niello,
Villines, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chan, Negrete McLeod, Nunez, Vacancy
NC:mel 8/26/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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