BILL NUMBER: SB 657	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 23, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 21, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Monning
   (Coauthor: Senator Jackson)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Section 712 to the Public Utilities Code, relating
to electricity, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 657, as amended, Monning. Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2: enhanced
seismic studies and review: independent peer review panel.
   Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations.
Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges
for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges
be just and reasonable. Existing law requires the commission, for
purposes of establishing rates for any electrical corporation, to
disallow expenses reflecting the direct or indirect costs resulting
from any unreasonable error or omission relating to the planning,
construction, or operation of any portion of the corporation's plant
which cost, or is estimated to have cost, more than $50,000,000,
including any expenses resulting from delays caused by any
unreasonable error or omission. For these purposes, "planning"
includes activities related to the initial and subsequent assessments
of the need for a plant construction project and includes
investigation and interpretation of environmental factors such as
seismic conditions.
   This bill would require the commission to convene, or continue,
until  January 1,   August 26,  2025, an
independent peer review panel to conduct an independent review of
enhanced seismic studies and surveys of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and
2 powerplant, including the surrounding areas of the facility and
areas of nuclear waste storage.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 712 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   712.  (a) The commission shall convene, or continue, until
 January 1,   August 26,  2025, an
independent peer review panel to conduct an independent review of
enhanced seismic studies and surveys of the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and
2 powerplant, including the surrounding areas of the facility and
areas of nuclear waste storage.
   (b) The independent peer review panel shall contract with the
Energy Commission, the California Geological Survey of the Department
of Conservation, the California Coastal Commission, the Alfred E.
Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, the Office of Emergency Services,
and the County of San Luis Obispo to participate on the panel and
provide expertise.
   (c) The independent peer review panel shall review the seismic
studies and hold public meetings.
   (d) The commission shall make reports by the independent peer
review panel publicly available on the Internet Web site maintained
by the commission.
  SEC. 2.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   The Public Utilities Commission in Decision 10-08-003 (August 12,
2010) convened an independent peer review panel to review the seismic
studies conducted on behalf of Pacific Gas and Electric Company
relative to the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant. The
independent peer review panel, in addition to providing valuable
expertise to the commission in evaluating the seismic studies, also
operates to assure the public that the seismic studies are being
performed in an appropriate manner. Because the commission's current
contracts for the independent peer review panel are set to expire on
November 30, 2015, the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 powerplant is
authorized to operate until  January 1,   August
26,  2025, by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and
there continues to be enhanced seismic studies and surveys conducted
that warrant review by the independent peer review panel to ensure
the safety of the public, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.