(a) The governing board of a school district may make a written request upon a person, corporation, public utility, local publicly owned utility, or governmental agency for information necessary or useful to assess and determine the safety of a proposed schoolsite or an addition to an existing schoolsite, pursuant to Section 17251 and this chapter, including pipelines, electric transmission and distribution lines, railroads, and storage tanks. The written request shall identify the physical location of the schoolsite for which information is sought, describe the information sought, and contain a statement as to why the information is needed or useful. Information requested may include all of the following:

(1) Railroad operations involving hazardous or toxic materials, as reported to a governmental agency; frequency, speed, and schedule of railroad traffic; grade, curves, and condition of railroad tracks; and railroad accident occurrence.

(2) Whether there are existing pipelines, planned pipelines, or easements for pipelines on, or in proximity to, as specified pursuant to regulations adopted pursuant to Section 17251, the schoolsite, including the location of the pipeline, the age of the pipeline, the pipeline material, the class of pipeline, the diameter of the pipeline, the depth at which the pipeline is buried, the wall thickness of the pipeline, the product or products transported by the pipeline, the operating pressure of the pipeline, the history of spills or leaks of material being transported by the pipeline, as reported to a governmental agency, and the location of the shutoff valves for the pipeline that are capable of preventing or halting the transport of product or products to the schoolsite.

(3) Whether there are easements for planned or existing lines for the transmission or distribution of electricity, electrical transformers, or electrical substations on or in proximity to, as specified pursuant to regulations adopted pursuant to Section 17251, the schoolsite, the location of easements for, planned, or existing lines, transformers, or substations, the voltages currently handled or planned to be handled by the line, transformer, or substation, the ground clearance, if applicable, of a line, transformer, or substation, and the depth of burial, if applicable, of the line, transformer, or substation as specified by the Public Utilities Commission.

(4) The location, age, construction type, safety record, and product stored in a storage tank.

(b) A person, corporation, public utility, local publicly owned utility, or governmental agency receiving a written request for information pursuant to this section shall provide a written response within 30 calendar days of receipt of the request, that provides the requested information, identifies available public information or an available report to a governmental agency, or provides written justification why the requested information is not being provided. A claim that the requested information is proprietary or confidential is a legitimate justification for the requested information to not be provided. The governing board of a school district may grant additional time to respond to a request for information pursuant to this section.

(c) A school district may file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory agency or legislative body for a violation of the requirements of this section. The regulatory agency or legislative body may appoint a representative to work toward informally resolving the complaint.

(Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 22, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 2006.)