Bill Text: CA SB1281 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Oil and gas production: water use: reporting.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 561, Statutes of 2014. [SB1281 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB1281-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1281	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Pavley

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to add Section 3223.5 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to oil and gas.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1281, as introduced, Pavley. Oil and gas production: water use
reporting.
   Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling,
operation, maintenance, stimulation, and abandonment of oil and gas
wells in the state. Existing law provides that a person who violates
any prohibition specific to the regulation of oil or gas operations
is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and
the 9 California regional water quality control boards are the
principal state agencies with responsibility for the coordination and
control of water quality in the state and the Department of Water
Resources operates the State Water Project and exercises other
functions relating to the state's water resources.
   This bill would declare that the use of freshwater in all elements
of the development and production of oil and gas shall be reduced,
by January 1, 2019, to an unspecified percentage of baseline
freshwater use in 2014, and would require the department and the
board, in collaboration with the division, to determine the volume of
that baseline use. The bill would require well and facility owners
or operators to report to the division the volume, source, and use of
all freshwater, recycled water, and treated water, as specified, and
would require the division to make that information publicly
available. Because a violation of the bill's reporting requirements
by an owner or operator would be a crime, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   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.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 3223.5 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
   3223.5.  (a) (1) It is the policy of the state to require
conservation of freshwater used, and to promote the use and reuse of
recycled and treated water, in all elements of the development and
production of oil and gas.
   (2) The annual use of freshwater in all elements of the
development and production of oil and gas shall be reduced, on or
before January 1, 2019, to ____ percent of baseline freshwater use in
2014, and this reduction shall be at least maintained thereafter.
   (b) (1) A well and facility owner or operator shall report to the
division the volume and specific source of all freshwater used, the
volume and specific source of all recycled and treated water used and
reused, and how these waters are used in all elements of the
development and production of oil and gas. This shall include all
waters supplied, treated, used, and reused by contractors on behalf
of the well and facility owner or operator.
   (2) The information required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
reported no later than 30 calendar days after the use or reuse of the
waters. The division shall post the information reported on its
Internet Web site. The information reported shall also be available
for download by the public from the division's Internet Web site in a
spreadsheet or similar format suitable for use in an electronic
database without additional processing. Activities related to wells
designated as confidential pursuant to Section 3234 are not exempt
from the public reporting requirements pursuant to this section.
   (c) The Department of Water Resources and the State Water
Resources Control Board, in collaboration with the division, shall
develop a methodology to determine, and shall determine, the volume
of freshwater used in the baseline 2014 year, as described in
subdivision (a). If data are unavailable, estimates derived from
documented evidence may be used.
   (d) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Freshwater" means water that is or may be used in the future
as a source of public drinking water.
   (2) "All elements of the development and production of oil and gas"
includes, but is not limited to, site and facility preparation,
construction, operation and maintenance, the drilling and redrilling
of any wells, any well stimulation treatments, any oil and gas
production and recovery, any operation and maintenance of idle wells,
any operation and maintenance of active observation wells, any
enhanced oil and gas recovery operations including injection wells,
any well plugging and abandonment operations and all related
activities.
  SEC. 2.  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.