BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 438| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 438 Author: Hill (D) and Hertzberg (D), et al. Amended: 8/1/16 Vote: 21 PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/25/16 (pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10) AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 8/22/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Earthquake safety: statewide earthquake early warning program and system SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill establishes, within the California Office of Emergency Services (OES), the California Early Warning Advisory Board (board) to support the development of the statewide earthquake early warning system (system), as specified. Assembly Amendments (1) gut and amend the bill, (2) establish, within OES, the board to support the development of the system, as specified, (3) require OES, to develop a business plan for the system, as specified, to specified legislative committees no later than February 1, 2018, (4) require OES, on or before February 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, to report to the Legislature any changes to the business plan from the prior year, as specified, (5) discontinue the requirement that the funding sources for the system exclude General Fund monies, and (6) make legislative findings in support of its provisions. SB 438 Page 2 ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1) Creates OES, within the office of the Governor, which coordinates disaster response, emergency planning, emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, disaster mitigation, and homeland security activities. 2) Requires various entities, including OES, through a public-private partnership, to develop a comprehensive statewide earthquake early warning system in California, as specified. 3) Requires OES to identify funding for an earthquake early warning system through single or multiple sources of revenues that shall be limited to federal funds, funds from revenue bonds, local funds, and private grants. 4) Prohibits General Fund moneys to be used for the establishment of an earthquake early warning system. 5) Specifies that if funding is not identified by July 1, 2016, the provisions relating to the establishment of an earthquake early warning system should be repealed unless a later enacted statute is enacted before January 1, 2017. 6) Establishes the California Earthquake Safety Fund and specifies that the moneys in the fund shall be used for seismic safety and earthquake-related programs, including the statewide earthquake early warning system. This bill: 1) Established within OES, the board, to support the development of the system. 2) Requires the board to include seven voting members and two nonvoting members, as follows: a) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, or his or her designee. SB 438 Page 3 b) The Secretary of California Health and Human Services, or his or her designee. c) The Secretary of Transportation, or his or her designee. d) The Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing, or his or her designee. e) One member who is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the Governor and represents the utilities industry. f) One member who is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the Senate Committee on Rules and represents county government. g) The Chancellor of the California State University, or his or her designee, shall serve as a nonvoting member of the board. h) The President of the University of California, or his or her designee, may serve as a nonvoting member of the board. 3) Specifies that the members of the board shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for actual and reasonable travel and meal expenses to attend board meetings. 4) Requires the board to convene periodically and advise the director on all aspects of the program including, but not limited to, the following functional areas of the program: a) System operations. b) Research and development. c) Finance and investment. d) Training and education. 5) Requires the board to utilize committees, groups, and organizations, including, but not limited to, the California Institute of Technology, the California Geological Survey, the University of California, the United States Geological Survey, and entities participating in the critical infrastructure sectors to fulfill the objectives of the program by supporting the functional areas of the system. 6) Requires the board to inform the public regarding, and SB 438 Page 4 provide the public with the opportunity to engage the board on, the development and implementation of the system. 7) Requires the board to consult with program participants, state agencies, departments, boards and commissions, private businesses, postsecondary educational institutions, and subject matter experts, as necessary, to advise the board on the development, implementation, and maintenance of the system. 8) Requires the California Integrated Seismic Network to be responsible for the generation of an earthquake early warning alert and related system operations. 9) Requires the board, in conjunction with the director, to determine the appropriate methods to provide the public with and earthquake early warning alert. 10)Requires the board to comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. 11)Requires OES, on or before February 1, 2018, to develop and submit a business plan for the program, as specified, to the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization, the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the Legislative Analyst's Office. 12)Requires OES, on or before February 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, to report to the Legislature any changes to the business plan from the prior year and shall provide a general report on progress of the program, as specified, and the implementation of the system. 13)Deletes the requirement that the funding sources for the system exclude the General Fund and be limited to federal funds, funds from revenue bonds, local funds, and funds from private sources. 14)Deletes the provisions providing for the repeal of the provisions relating to the establishment of the system if funding has not been identified by July 1, 2016, unless a SB 438 Page 5 later enacted statute is enacted before January 1, 2017. 15)Makes legislative findings in support of its provisions. Background Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "current law prohibits the use of General Funds with the intent to finance California's earthquake early warning system through public-private partnerships. But, those partnerships and funding have yet to materialize, hindering the ability of OES to get the warning system up and running. In addition, the law didn't establish a governance structure, and effective and sustainable implementation of the system requires a governance structure that can coordinate the multiple agencies involved." California's earthquake overview: California is a hotbed for earthquake activity. Ninety percent of the world's earthquakes and approximately 80 percent of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Pacific Ring of Fire - a 25,000-mile horseshoe shaped area in the Pacific Ocean, which extends from the Western coast of South and North America to Eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the very active San Andreas Fault zone in California. In January 2013, the Californian Institute of Technology and the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology published a study concluding for the first time that a statewide California earthquake involving both the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas may be possible. On August 24, 2014, at roughly 3:20 a.m. local time, an earthquake occurred in and around the City of Napa, California. The epicenter was located south of Napa, approximately 3.7 miles northwest of the American Canyon near the West Napa Fault. The earthquake, measuring a 6.0 on the magnitude scale, was the largest earthquake in the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The Napa earthquake resulted in one death and approximately 200 people injured. Shortly after, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency due to the damage and the possibility of damage resulting from aftershocks. It is estimated that the earthquake caused over $400 million in SB 438 Page 6 damage. A silver lining of the earthquake was the success of earthquake warning systems in providing warning times to nearby communities. An experimental earthquake warning system being developed by the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory issued a warning 5 seconds before the earthquake arrived in Berkeley. Similarly, Seismic Warning Systems, Inc. had installed on-site warning systems at five fire stations in Vallejo in 2002. These systems commanded the bay doors to open at these fire stations before the Earthquake arrived. Earthquake Early Warning Systems: While earthquakes cannot be predicted or prevented, using advanced science and technology has in the past-detected seismic activity and provided advanced warning. The objective of earthquake early warning systems is to rapidly detect the occurrence of an earthquake, estimate the level of ground shaking to be expected, issue a warning before significant ground shaking begins, and estimate the location and the magnitude of the earthquake. This is not the same as earthquake prediction, which currently is not possible. When an earthquake occurs, the earthquake produces different types of shock waves, which travel at different speeds. The fastest and weakest of these waves are called P-waves. Technology exists that can detect the energy from P-waves to estimate the location and the magnitude of the earthquake. This method can provide warning before the more destructive S-wave arrives. The S-wave is responsible for most of the strong shaking that usually creates the most damage during earthquakes. The amount of warning time at a particular location depends on the distance from the earthquake epicenter. Locations very close to the earthquake epicenter will receive relatively little or no warning whereas locations far removed from the earthquake epicenter would receive more warning time but may not experience damaging shaking. Studies on earthquake early warning methods in California concluded that the warning time would range from a few seconds to a few tens of seconds, depending on the distance from the earthquake epicenter. However, very large earthquakes emanating SB 438 Page 7 from the San Andreas Fault could produce significantly more warning time because the affected area would be much larger. Regardless of the warning time, earthquake early warning systems can provide adequate time to slow down and stop trains, stop cars from entering tunnels, automatically shut down dangerous machinery, and countless other benefits. Taking such actions before an earthquake arrives can reduce damage and casualties during and after an earthquake. Earthquake early warning systems are currently in place in Japan and Mexico and many other countries throughout the world are currently in the process of developing such systems. Related/Prior Legislation SB 494 (Hill, Chapter 799, Statutes of 2015) created the California Earthquake Safety Fund to be used for seismic safety and earthquake-related programs, including the earthquake, early warning system. SB 31 (Padilla, Chapter 342, Statutes of 2013) required OES, in collaboration with various entities, to develop a comprehensive statewide earthquake early warning system in California. AB 928 (Blakeslee, 2009) would have required the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop an earthquake early warning system and coordinate development of that system with various state agencies. (Held in Assembly Governmental Organization Committee) FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Initial estimated capital costs of approximately $28 million (General Fund) to establish the earthquake early warning system, according to a recent earthquake early warning system Project Implementation Framework report. The General Fund impacts could be partially mitigated to the extent funds are identified for earthquake early warning system purposes from SB 438 Page 8 other state, local, federal, or private sources. Senate Appropriations staff (staff) notes that the 2016-17 Budget includes a one-time General Fund appropriation of $6.875 million for capital funding for earthquake early warning system purposes. Ongoing annual administrative costs of approximately $17 million (General Fund) beginning in 2017-18 to operate and maintain an earthquake early warning system, according to the Project Implementation Framework report. The General Fund impacts could be partially mitigated to the extent funds are identified for earthquake early warning system purposes from other state, local, federal, or private sources. Staff notes that the 2016-17 Budget includes a one-time General Fund appropriation of $3.125 million for state operations related to the development of the earthquake early warning system: $734,000 for 4 PY of staff at OES, $150,000 for a financial strategy contract, and $2.241 million for public education and training. OES indicates costs related to the establishment of the board and development of a business plan would be minor and absorbable. Staff estimates there could be significant costs related to ongoing activities of OES and the board beyond the current fiscal year for which funding has been appropriated, but these costs could be included in the above estimate of ongoing administrative costs. SUPPORT: (Verified8/22/16) American Red Cross BART California Department of Insurance California Fire Chiefs Association California State Firefighters' Association Caltech City of Los Angeles SB 438 Page 9 CompTIA Fire Districts Association of California Silicon Valley Leadership Group OPPOSITION: (Verified8/22/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the City of Los Angeles, "in California earthquakes are inevitable; and yet despite state federal action, our state lags behind Japan and Mexico in developing an earthquake early warning system. Such systems save lives by alerting residents to seek shelter and protecting sensitive infrastructure like power plants and mass transit systems during earthquakes." In addition, the California Department of Insurance argues that, "the mandate to create statewide warning system was passed in 2013, with a plan to fund it through public-private partnerships, but those partnerships have yet to materialize. The goal was to expand the prototype Shake Alert system, but adequate funding is needed to the expansion. The funding provided by SB 438 would be used to get the warning system up and running, which would include installing 440 new and upgraded seismic sensors throughout the state, connecting 840 existing seismic sensors with communications equipment so they can be hooked up into the system, and developing a system to send alerts to the public." ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 8/22/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, SB 438 Page 10 McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Beth Gaines, Melendez Prepared by:Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530 8/25/16 17:54:20 **** END ****