Senator Fran Pavley

Acting to ensure that public safety will be protected before storage activity can resume at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility, the Assembly Thursday approved urgency legislation authored by Senator Fran Pavley and co-authored by Assemblyman Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita.

The bill, SB 380, was approved on a bipartisan, 68-1 vote. It requires that a rigorous testing protocol developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratories be strictly followed before operations can resume at the site of a massive gas leak. Over a period of four months before it was finally plugged in late February, the leak forced the relocation of more than 8,000 families and spewed nearly 100,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere.

“This bill holds state regulators and SoCal Gas to their promise that all 114 wells will be thoroughly investigated,” said Senator Pavley, whose district includes the community of Porter Ranch that was severely disrupted by the leak. “This is the only course forward that provides maximum protection against another disastrous leak. The Assembly today spoke very clearly in asserting that safety must come first.”

Assemblyman Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita, a co-author who also represents the area, presented the bill on the Assembly floor.

Assemblyman Scott Wilk

“Many families affected by the gas leak remain concerned about moving back into their homes,” Wilk said. “SB 380 is vital to ensuring any new injections of natural gas and use of vintage wells at the Aliso Canyon storage facility are safe. I will continue to fight for the residents of Porter Ranch and I also thank Senator Pavley for her leadership on this issue.”

SB 380 now goes back to the Senate for concurrence in Assembly amendments. In January, the Senate unanimously approved the bill in its original form.

As urgency legislation, passage requires a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of the Legislature. It would take effect immediately upon being signed by the governor.

The safety testing requirements in SB 380 are aligned with those established by the Brown administration, acting under the governor’s emergency order. They require that all 114 wells undergo two complementary tests to detect leaks. No well could be put back into service until it also passes four additional tests to ensure its structural integrity.

At an informational hearing before the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee earlier this week, a SoCal Gas representative testified he expects all wells will have undergone the leak tests by the end of next week. He also reiterated earlier statements by the company that it expects a limited number of wells can be fully tested, certified as safe, and be ready to resume injecting gas into the storage facility by late summer. Under the conditions of SB 380 and the emergency regulations, all other wells would have be temporarily sealed and isolated from the facility before injections could resume.

While SB 380 is aligned with the existing emergency moratorium on injections, it goes further in ensuring safety at the facility and in evaluating the long-term future of the site, which is the largest natural gas storage facility in the Western United States.

The bill directs the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to quickly evaluate, using the best available data, how much working gas is currently required at Aliso Canyon to provide for safety and energy reliability and to protect ratepayers by ensuring reasonable rates.

It is Senator Pavley’s hope the CPUC will update its report before the facility begins injections, incorporating findings from ongoing studies and the results of a comprehensive safety review now being conducted by the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources.

In addition, the bill directs the CPUC, by July 1, 2017, to open a proceeding to evaluate the feasibility of minimizing the use of or shutting down the facility over time.

“My constituents, including some who have not yet returned to their homes out of fear for their family’s safety, want to know that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure their safety and to allow life in their community to finally return to normal,” said Senator Pavley. “SB 380 provides that assurance. I am grateful that the Assembly has agreed to put safety first, and look forward to the Senate sending this bill to the governor very soon.”

After the Legislature has acted and safety issues are appropriately addressed, Pavley said she is looking forward to working with critical stakeholders to ensure that Los Angeles and the state are deploying every possible resource to avoid energy reliability challenges this summer, and “to answer the tough questions about how we became so dependent on this one resource in the first place.”