Amended  IN  Assembly  September 15, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  May 26, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  April 17, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill No. 773

Introduced by Senator Stern
(Principal coauthor: Senator Skinner)

February 17, 2017

An act to amend Section 3214 of, and to add Section 3210.5 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to oil and gas. add Title 15 (commencing with Section 14400) to Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 773, as amended, Stern. Oil and gas: well records. Terrorist and Criminal Organization Investigation Teams.
Existing law requires the Attorney General to administer various programs to coordinate data relating to crime prevention and criminal investigation and prosecution, including, among other data, firearm ownership, criminal records, and missing persons.
This bill would require the Attorney General to create Terrorist and Criminal Organization Investigation Teams, to be located throughout the state, to proactively coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism activity and criminal opportunities before they occur by specializing in social media forums. The bill would also require Department of Justice personnel to be trained on state and federal guidelines, as specified.

(1)Existing law requires the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources to regulate the drilling and operation of wells used for the purpose of producing oil and gas. Existing law requires an owner or operator of a well to keep, or cause to be kept, a careful and accurate log, core record, and history of the drilling of the well. Existing law requires the log to be kept in the local office of the owner or operator, and, together with the tour reports of the owner or operator, is subject, during business hours, to the inspection of the supervisor, the district deputy, or the director. Under existing law, a person who fails to comply with these and other requirements relating to the regulation of oil or gas operations is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would require the well history and all well summaries, in addition to the log, to be kept in the local office of the owner or operator, and would make them subject, during business hours, to the inspection of the supervisor, the district deputy, or the director. Because a violation of this requirement would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the division to post on its Internet Web site, in a manner determined by the division, specified mandatory disclosures received from operators on or after January 1, 2019, within 30 days of receipt.

(2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Title 15 (commencing with Section 14400) is added to Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:

TITLE 15. Terrorist and Criminal Organization Investigation Teams

14400.
 The Attorney General shall, to the extent the Legislature appropriates funds for the purpose, create Terrorist and Criminal Organization Investigation Teams to be located throughout the state. The teams shall proactively coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism activity and criminal opportunities before they occur by specializing in social media forums. Activity by the Department of Justice shall follow state and federal guidelines, including, but not limited to, Part 23 of Chapter 1 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Before starting work under this section, the department shall ensure that personnel have been provided training on these guidelines, including guidance regarding restrictions, limitations, and standards for targeting individuals, groups and activities, and for security and retention of data obtained.

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)During earlier reform efforts at the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation, the division released a memo in 2010 that emphasized the importance of regulatory recordkeeping and maintenance of well records by division personnel.

(b)Public concern and expectations regarding division recordkeeping has increased in recent years, and has highlighted questions regarding reporting at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility following the massive gas leak that started in October of 2015.

(c)In 2015, the division publicly released an internal review of the records maintained by one of its district offices. The review revealed that many critical records were missing from Underground Injection Control Program project files. In some instances, more than one-half of a type of critical record were incomplete or missing.

(d)Recent leadership at the division and the department have made a renewed and continuing commitment to overhauling regulations and modernizing data management to help address expectations and address public safety.

SEC. 2.Section 3210.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
3210.5.

(a)The division shall post on its Internet Web site, in a manner determined by the division, all of the following mandatory disclosures received from operators on or after January 1, 2019, within 30 days of receipt:

(1)Copies of approved notices of intention to commence drilling.

(2)Well summaries.

(3)Core records and histories.

(4)All electrical, physical, and chemical logs, tests, and surveys run on the well, including mud logs.

(b)To ensure that the records are sufficient, to the satisfaction of the division, the division may conduct random audits of operators in a manner consistent with Section 3214.

SEC. 3.Section 3214 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
3214.

The log, the well history, and all well summaries shall be kept in the local office of the owner or operator, and, together with the tour reports of the owner or operator, shall be subject, during business hours, to the inspection of the supervisor, the district deputy, or the director.

SEC. 4.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.