SB 15: Oil imports: air quality emissions data.

Existing law, the Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act of 1980, requires refiners, as defined, to report monthly to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), for each of their refineries, specified information, including the origin of petroleum receipts and the source of imports of finished petroleum products.

This bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the Energy Commission monitor foreign countries that export oil to California and identify on its internet website which of those countries have demonstrated human rights abuses, as documented by the United States Department of State or by human rights organizations, State, and which of those countries have lower environmental standards for the production of oil than California.

Existing law imposes various limitations on the emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to post on its internet website information on air quality conditions and trends statewide and to develop and conduct a program of monitoring airborne fine particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM 2.5).

This bill would require the state board to annually produce an assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transportation of oil in California, as specified, and to include that assessment on the boards internet website. The bill would also require the Energy Commission to annually provide data collected pursuant to the Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act of 1980 to the state board for the purposes of the assessment.

Under existing law, the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state.

This bill would require the division to provide a link on its internet website to air quality emissions data associated with the transportation of oil imported into the state.