Enrolled  September 13, 2017
Passed  IN  Senate  September 06, 2017
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 11, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  August 28, 2017
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

Introduced by Assembly Member Bigelow
(Principal coauthor: Senator Berryhill)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Dahle and Obernolte)

February 13, 2017

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, 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 2 specified citations, issued by the Public Utilities Commission to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for violations relating to the 2015 Butte Fire, 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.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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, shall be transferred to the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and 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.