Bill Text: CA AB524 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public utilities: fines and settlements: 2015 Butte Fire.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2018-01-12 - Stricken from file. [AB524 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB524-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  June 08, 2017

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 10, 2017

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 524

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Introduced by Assembly Member Bigelow
(Principal coauthor: Senator Berryhill)

February 13, 2017

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An act relating to public utilities, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 524, as amended, Bigelow. Public utilities: fines and settlements: 2015 Butte Fire.

Existing law establishes the Public Utilities Commission and vests the commission with regulatory jurisdiction and authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law places various responsibilities upon the commission to ensure that public utility services are provided in a manner that protects the public safety and the safety of utility employees.

This bill would appropriate moneys resulting from the collection of fines levied on, or settlement with, 2 specified citations, issued by the Public Utilities Commission to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company by the commission for violations relating to the 2015 Butte Fire Fire, to the Boards of Supervisors of the Counties of Amador and Calaveras in proportion to the acreage burnt by the fire in those counties. The bill would require the moneys to be expended for certain purposes. Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to be expended for the department’s program known as the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and Tree Mortality Grant Program.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Digest Key

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Moneys received by the Public Utilities Commission as a result of Citation D.16-09-055 E.17-04-001 and Citation D.16-09-005 E.17-04-002, issued on April 25, 2017, are hereby appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to be expended for the department’s program known as the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and Tree Mortality Grant Program.

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 California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

To ensure sufficient funds are provided to the program known as the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and Tree Mortality Grant Program, administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to reduce the risk of wildfire threats to habitable structures, it is necessary for this measure to take effect immediately.

SECTION 1.

Moneys resulting from the collection of fines levied on, or settlement with, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company by the Public Utilities Commission for the 2015 Butte Fire in the Counties of Amador and Calaveras, are hereby appropriated to the boards of supervisors of those two counties in proportion to the respective acreage burnt by the 2015 Butte Fire in those counties. The boards of supervisors of those two counties shall expend the moneys, in order of priority, for the following purposes:

(a)As matching funds by the county for recovery projects funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Office of Emergency Services.

(b)For disaster recovery, maintenance, public health and safety, and community support resources in areas or neighborhoods directly impacted and adjacent to the areas burnt by the 2015 Butte Fire to encourage community resiliency and safety.

(c)For fire prevention work, including the removal of trees destroyed by the western bark beetle on public and private properties in the county.

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 California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

To ensure the early recovery of areas devastated by the 2015 Butte Fire, it is necessary for this measure to take effect immediately.