Refineries: decommissioning and remediation: cost estimates.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on penalties or funding sources.

Refinery Cleanup Costs

The bill requires oil refineries in California to provide cost estimates and plans for cleaning up their sites when they close or change operations.

What This Bill Does

• Requires every refiner who owns, operates, or controls a refinery to submit a draft report on decommissioning and site remediation costs by December 31, 2028.
• Initiates a 45-day public comment period for the draft reports unless parts are claimed as trade secrets.
• Requires the State Water Resources Control Board to develop guidelines for estimating cleanup methods, costs, and timelines by December 31, 2027.
• Shares these reports with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for their transportation fuels transition strategy.

Who It Names or Affects

• Oil companies that own, operate, or control refineries in California.
• The public who can see these reports after they are reviewed by the State Water Resources Control Board.
• State agencies like the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Water Resources Control Board.

Terms To Know

Trade Secret

A piece of information that a company keeps secret because it gives them an advantage, such as a special formula or process.

Decommissioning

The process of safely closing down and cleaning up a facility like an oil refinery when it is no longer needed.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what will happen if companies do not follow the rules.
• Does not explain how much money will be used to clean up the refineries.
• The bill does not specify who will pay for the cleanup costs mentioned in the reports.

Official Summary Text

SB 1259, as amended, Blakespear.
Refineries: decommissioning and remediation: cost estimates.
Under existing law,
Existing law establishes
the State Water Resources Control Board (board) and the California regional water quality control boards
which
prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission 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.
The
This
bill would require, no later than December 31, 2028, every refiner to submit to the board a draft report setting forth information concerning decommissioning and site remediation for every refinery it owns, operates, or controls, as provided. The bill would require the board, promptly upon receipt of the draft report, to initiate a 45-day public comment period concerning the draft, and would authorize the board, at its discretion, to hold one or more public hearings concerning the draft. Unless the refiner makes a successful claim, as provided, that the report contains a trade secret, as defined, the bill would require the draft report, the board’s comments and required changes, and the final report to be promptly made available to the public on the board’s internet website.
The bill would require a refiner who gives notice of intent to permanently
shut down, shut down to reconfigure, or sell a refinery in a transaction that may result in a refinery shutting down or reconfiguring, as provided, to submit a draft report and, under a specified circumstance, an update of its report, as provided. The bill would establish specified timeframes for complying with these requirements. The bill would require, on or before December 31, 2027, the board to develop default technology-based guidelines for estimation of the methods, costs, and timelines associated with soil and groundwater remediation at refinery sites.
The bill would require the
board to provide a copy of each report received pursuant to these provisions to the commission for specified purposes. The bill would require the commission to incorporate the information in its ongoing work to develop a comprehensive transportation fuels transition strategy. The bill would further require the commission,
board,
no later than one year after receiving the reports, to publish a report assessing the total decommissioning and remediation liabilities for refineries in the state, as provided.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF