(a) By January 1, 2018, any new or replacement pipeline near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone shall use best available technology, including, but not limited to, the installation of leak detection technology, automatic shutoff systems, or remote controlled sectionalized block valves, or any combination of these technologies, based on a risk analysis conducted by the operator, to reduce the amount of oil released in an oil spill to protect state waters and wildlife.

(b) (1) By July 1, 2018, an operator of an existing pipeline near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone shall submit a plan to retrofit, by January 1, 2020, existing pipelines near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone with the best available technology, including, but not limited to, installation of leak detection technologies, automatic shutoff systems, or remote controlled sectionalized block valves, or any combination of these technologies, based on a risk analysis conducted by the operator to reduce the amount of oil released in an oil spill to protect state waters and wildlife.

(2) An operator may request confidential treatment of information submitted in the plan required by paragraph (1) or contained in any documents associated with the risk analysis described in this section, including, but not limited to, information regarding the proposed location of automatic shutoff valves or remote controlled sectionalized block valves.

(c) The State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations pursuant to this section by July 1, 2017. The regulations shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) A definition of automatic shutoff systems.

(2) A process to assess the adequacy of the operator’s risk analysis.

(3) A process by which an operator may request confidential treatment of information submitted in the plan required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) or contained in any documents associated with the risk analysis described in this section.

(4) A determination of how near to an environmentally and ecologically sensitive area a pipeline must be to be subject to the requirements of this section based on the likelihood of the pipeline impacting those areas.

(d) An operator of a pipeline near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone shall notify the Office of the State Fire Marshal of any new construction or retrofit of pipeline in these waters.

(e) For purposes of implementing this section, the State Fire Marshal shall consult with the Office of Spill Prevention and Response about the potential impacts to state water and wildlife.

(f) For purposes of this section, “environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas” is the same term as described in subdivision (d) of Section 8574.7.

(g) (1) For purposes of this section, “best available technology” means technology that provides the greatest degree of protection by limiting the quantity of release in the event of a spill, taking into consideration whether the processes are currently in use and could be purchased anywhere in the world.

(2) The State Fire Marshal shall determine what is the best available technology and shall consider the effectiveness and engineering feasibility of the technology when making this determination.

(h) For the purposes of this section, “oil” means hazardous liquid as defined in Section 195.2 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 341, Sec. 1. (SB 840) Effective September 13, 2016.)