SB 950: Energy: transportation fuels: inventories: turnaround and maintenance.

Session Year: 2023-2024
House: Senate

Current Status:

Failed

(2024-08-28: From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.)

Introduced

First Committee Review

First Chamber

Second Committee Review

Second Chamber

Enacted

Version:

(1)Existing law, beginning on June 26, 2023, establishes the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee within the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to advise the Energy Commission and the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, as provided. Existing law prescribes the composition of the 8-member committee, including 6 specified members appointed by the Governor, one member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member appointed by the Senate Rules Committee.

This bill would repeal the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee and instead would establish a 6-member Expert Advisory Committee to advise the Energy Commission and division, as provided. The bill would require 4 of the members of the committee to be appointed by the Governor, one member to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member to be appointed by the Senate Rules Committee. The bill would, among other things, require all members of the committee to either hold an academic appointment in, or demonstrate expertise of, economics or business operations of the transportation fuels market, and would prohibit all members of the committee from having been employed by, contracted with, or received direct compensation from, a company that produces, refines, distributes, trades in, markets, or sells any petroleum product in the preceding 12 months.

(2)Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and labor and industry stakeholders, to consider ways to manage necessary refinery turnarounds and maintenance that would protect the health and safety of employees and the public, and minimize the impacts of maintenance-related production losses on fuel prices. Existing law authorizes the commission, by regulation, to impose requirements governing the timing of turnaround and maintenance.

This bill would expressly authorize those regulations to include criteria that are required to be met before a refinery commences a turnaround or maintenance event, as provided.

This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Expert Advisory Committee, to consider the effects of refiners inventories of fuel and feedstocks and blending components on the price of transportation fuels in California. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission, by regulation, to develop and impose requirements for refiners operating in the state to maintain minimum levels of inventories of refined transportation fuels meeting California specifications, including any feedstocks and blending components, as specified.

This bill would impose an administrative civil penalty on a refiner or person who fails to comply with regulations adopted pursuant to the above-described authority and would authorize the Energy Commission to seek any form of injunctive or remedial relief to enforce compliance with those regulations, as provided.

(3)Existing law requires the Energy Commission, on or before January 1, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter, to submit an assessment to the Governor and the Legislature that, among other things, identifies methods to ensure a reliable supply of affordable and safe transportation fuels in California, as provided.

This bill, beginning with the first assessment submitted after January 1, 2025, would require that assessment to also include (A) an evaluation of Californias future petroleum product import needs and identified steps that can be taken to ensure that marine infrastructure and port facilities will be adequate to accommodate the efficient movement of petroleum products, and, for those purposes, would require the Energy Commission to consult with specified entities, and (B) an evaluation of the effects on supplies of transportation fuels of state regulations that the Energy Commission identifies may be causing supply constraints, or for which the Energy Commission believes alternative compliance pathways should be considered by state agencies to mitigate potential impacts on supply.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to contract for the establishment and operation of community correctional reentry centers to provide an enhancement program to increase the likelihood of a successful parole and to assist inmates with educational and employment training, among other objectives. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing federal law generally prohibits a resident of a correctional institution from receiving supplemental nutrition assistance benefits. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, if the department deems it necessary to maximize CalFresh enrollment outcomes or employment placement success rates for individuals reentering the community from the state prison or a county jail, to request from the United States Department of Agricultures Food and Nutrition Service a waiver of that prohibition to allow for preenrollment of applicants prior to their release.This bill would require CDCR to ensure that all eligible and willing residents of a community correctional reentry center are enrolled in the Medi-Cal program within 30 days of eligibility, and would require CDCR, in partnership with the State Department of Health Care Services, to maximize Medi-Cal benefits received by those residents, including homelessness prevention services, among others. The bill would require CDCR, in partnership with the State Department of Social Services, to maximize CalFresh benefits for eligible and willing residents of a community correctional reentry center, such as employment and training services for which matching federal funding is available, to the extent the county has opted into a specified program. The bill would authorize a county to locate community health workers in or near public defenders offices to connect clients with specified services, including substance use disorder treatment services, and to designate a supervising provider, as defined.

Discussed in Hearing