SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed legislation to strengthen maintenance and oversight of natural gas transmission pipelines and improve coordination between gasline operators and first responders. This legislation was developed in response to the explosion in San Bruno on September 9, 2010, which killed eight people, injured numerous others and destroyed dozens of homes.
“We learned very important lessons from the tragic explosion in San Bruno. Pipeline operators and the Public Utilities Commission must take every possible step to keep it from happening again,” said Governor Brown. “These bills protect California’s communities by setting new standards for emergency preparedness, placing automatic shut-off valves in vulnerable areas and ensuring that gas companies pressure test transmission lines.”
The following bills have been signed by Governor Brown:
• AB 56 by Assemblymember Jerry Hill (D-South San Francisco) – Gas corporations: rate recovery and expenditure: intrastate pipeline safety.
• SB 44 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) – Public utilities: gas pipeline emergency response standards.
• SB 216 by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) – Public utilities: intrastate natural gas pipeline safety.
• SB 705 by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) – Natural gas: service and safety.
• SB 879 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) – Natural gas pipelines: safety.