BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                              1
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                SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
                            MARTHA M. ESCUTIA, CHAIRWOMAN
          

          SB 1047 -  Bowen                             Hearing Date:   
          April 5, 2005                   S
          As Introduced: February 22, 2005   FISCAL                B

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                                      DESCRIPTION
          
           Current law  requires the California Public Utilities Commission  
          (CPUC) to annually report to the Legislature on railroad sites  
          that are hazardous.  That report shall include a list of all  
          railroad derailment accident sites in the state on which  
          accidents have occurred within at least the previous five years.

           This bill  changes the reporting requirement from a 5 year  
          accident history to a 2 year history.

                                      BACKGROUND
           
          The reporting requirements addressed in this bill resulted from  
          the July 1991 Southern Pacific train derailment on particularly  
          winding track near Dunsmuir, California, which spilled thousands  
          of gallons of pesticide in the Upper Sacramento River.  The  
          effect was to kill all plant and wildlife as far as 38 miles  
          downstream from the spill.  In response to this accident the  
          Legislature enacted a comprehensive system for identifying  
          railroad sites that are local safety hazards.  The CPUC was  
          required to annually report to the Legislature on the type,  
          quantities, and locations of hazardous materials transported by  
          railroads and a list of railroad derailment accident sites for  
          the previous five years.  Much of the effort at identifying  
          local safety hazards has been voided by the courts based on a  
          challenge by the railroads to California's jurisdiction.

          Last year AB 2701 (Runner, Chapter 766, Statutes of 2004)  
          deleted the requirement for the CPUC to annually report on the  
          hazardous materials transported by railroads.












                                       COMMENTS
           
          This bill reduces the railroad derailment accident site  
          reporting requirement from five years of history to two years.  
          The bill does not otherwise affect the CPUC's responsibility for  
          investigating accidents nor the annual report to the Legislature  
          regarding accidents.














































                                       POSITIONS
           
           Sponsor:
           
          Author

           Support:
           
          None on file

           Oppose:
           
          None on file

          







































          Randy Chinn 
          SB 1047 Analysis
          Hearing Date:  April 5, 2005