California 2019-2020 Regular Session Status: In Committee 1 R cosponsors

AB 900 — Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: electrical grid inspection unit.

Last action — From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Assembly
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2019-2020 Regular Session. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

Pursuant to existing law, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is responsible for fire protection in state responsibility areas, as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. Pursuant to existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, electrical cooperatives are subject to the authority and jurisdiction of the commission for certain purposes, and local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law requires each electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, and electrical cooperative to construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to annually prepare a wildfire mitigation plan and to submit its plan to the commission for review and approval, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, at the time it approves each plan, to authorize the utility to establish a memorandum account to track costs incurred to implement the plan. Following approval, the commission is required to oversee compliance with the plans. Existing law requires the commission and the department to enter into a memorandum of understanding to cooperatively develop consistent approaches and share data related to fire prevention, safety, vegetation management, and energy distribution systems and to share results from various fire prevention activities, including relevant inspections and fire ignition data. This bill would require the department to establish an electrical grid inspection unit with a northern region and southern region, each region having 10 fire captain specialists and one battalion chief. The electrical grid inspection unit would be responsible for enforcing electrical corporation compliance with all statutes, regulations, and rules concerning safety, maintenance of firebreaks, and vegetation control in state responsibility areas and specified areas that are at high risk for catastrophic wildfires. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations establishing a program for the inspection of an electrical corporation's lines and associated equipment for the transmission or distribution of electricity that authorizes the electrical grid inspection unit to issue citations to an electrical corporation to correct a condition involving the utility's lines or associated equipment. The bill would require that the regulations include specified content, including protocols to notify the Public Utilities Commission of the results of inspections for which no citation is issued and of any citation issued by the department and the resolution of the citation. The bill would make the notifications admissible in specified proceedings and reviews by the commission. The bill would appropriate $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for purposes of establishing and staffing the electrical grid inspection unit.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

  2. Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution.

  3. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

  4. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.

  5. Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and U. & E.

  6. From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

  7. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety environment energy
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 900 do?
Pursuant to existing law, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is responsible for fire protection in state responsibility areas, as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. Pursuant to existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, electrical cooperatives are subject to the authority and jurisdiction of the commission for certain purposes, and local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law requires each electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, and electrical cooperative to construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to annually prepare a wildfire mitigation plan and to submit its plan to the commission for review and approval, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, at the time it approves each plan, to authorize the utility to establish a memorandum account to track costs incurred to implement the plan. Following approval, the commission is required to oversee compliance with the plans. Existing law requires the commission and the department to enter into a memorandum of understanding to cooperatively develop consistent approaches and share data related to fire prevention, safety, vegetation management, and energy distribution systems and to share results from various fire prevention activities, including relevant inspections and fire ignition data. This bill would require the department to establish an electrical grid inspection unit with a northern region and southern region, each region having 10 fire captain specialists and one battalion chief. The electrical grid inspection unit would be responsible for enforcing electrical corporation compliance with all statutes, regulations, and rules concerning safety, maintenance of firebreaks, and vegetation control in state responsibility areas and specified areas that are at high risk for catastrophic wildfires. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations establishing a program for the inspection of an electrical corporation's lines and associated equipment for the transmission or distribution of electricity that authorizes the electrical grid inspection unit to issue citations to an electrical corporation to correct a condition involving the utility's lines or associated equipment. The bill would require that the regulations include specified content, including protocols to notify the Public Utilities Commission of the results of inspections for which no citation is issued and of any citation issued by the department and the resolution of the citation. The bill would make the notifications admissible in specified proceedings and reviews by the commission. The bill would appropriate $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for purposes of establishing and staffing the electrical grid inspection unit.
Who sponsors AB 900?
AB 900 is sponsored by Flora, Heath (Republican).
What is the current status of AB 900?
This bill died with 2019-2020 Regular Session. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track AB 900?
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