BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1047|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 1047
          Author:   Bowen (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SEN. ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNICATIONS COMM.  :  9-0, 4/5/05
          AYES:  Excutia, Alarcon, Bowen, Campbell, Cox, Dunn, Kehoe,  
            Murray, Simitian
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Morrow, Battin

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8


           SUBJECT  :    Railroad corporations: safety

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill changes a railroad derailment accident  
          site reporting requirement from a five-year accident  
          history to a two-year accident history.

           ANALYSIS  :    Current law requires the Public Utilities  
          Commission (PUC) to annually report to the Legislature on  
          railroad sites that are hazardous.  The 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.

          The reporting requirements resulted from the July 1991  
          Southern Pacific trail derailment on particularly winding  
          track near Dunsmuir, California, which spilled thousands of  
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          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 PUC 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 PUC to annually report on  
          the hazardous materials transported by railroads.

          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 PUC's  
          responsibility for investigating accidents nor the annual  
          report to the Legislature regarding accidents.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          NC:cm  4/18/05   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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