(a) With advice from the Pipeline Safety Advisory Committee, the State Water Resources Control Board, the California regional water quality control boards, and local water purveyors, the State Fire Marshal shall adopt regulations for wellhead protection plans that provide guidelines to be used by the pipeline operator as specified in Section 51017.1 to protect the public drinking water well from contamination should a pipeline rupture or leak pose a significant threat to a public drinking water well, taking into account the nature of the fuel and its ability to migrate to a public drinking water well. The regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal shall require each plan to contain adequate and effective measures that are technologically feasible, practical, and operationally sound that protect public drinking water wells. At a minimum, the wellhead protection plan shall contain the following:
(1) Operational activities that provide the pipeline operator with sufficient information to adequately ensure the integrity of the pipeline. These may include internal inspection or evaluation tools (smart pigs), substructure excavation (potholing), well monitoring, additional or more frequent pressure tests, cathodic protection surveys or visual inspections, or other technologies as appropriate.
(2) Response measures that will enhance the pipeline operator’s response to an emergency, such as a pipeline rupture, fire, earthquake, or flood. These measures may include activities, such as additional training for operator staff or improved coordination with emergency response agencies.
(b) At least once every five years, the State Fire Marshal, with the advice of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Committee, the State Water Resources Control Board, the California regional water quality control boards, and local water purveyors, shall review the regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) to determine if new measures that have been proven to be technologically feasible, practical, and operationally sound should be included in the regulations. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt new regulations if such new measures are identified.
(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 814, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1998.)
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