SECTIONS 30260-30265.5 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 30260-30265.5

30260. Coastal-dependent industrial facilities shall be encouraged
to locate or expand within existing sites and shall be permitted
reasonable long-term growth where consistent with this division.
However, where new or expanded coastal-dependent industrial
facilities cannot feasibly be accommodated consistent with other
policies of this division, they may nonetheless be permitted in
accordance with this section and Sections 30261 and 30262 if (1)
alternative locations are infeasible or more environmentally
damaging; (2) to do otherwise would adversely affect the public
welfare; and (3) adverse environmental effects are mitigated to the
maximum extent feasible.

30261. Multicompany use of existing and new tanker facilities shall
be encouraged to the maximum extent feasible and legally
permissible, except where to do so would result in increased tanker
operations and associated onshore development incompatible with the
land use and environmental goals for the area. New tanker terminals
outside of existing terminal areas shall be situated as to avoid risk
to environmentally sensitive areas and shall use a monobuoy system,
unless an alternative type of system can be shown to be
environmentally preferable for a specific site. Tanker facilities
shall be designed to (1) minimize the total volume of oil spilled,
(2) minimize the risk of collision from movement of other vessels,
(3) have ready access to the most effective feasible containment and
recovery equipment for oilspills, and (4) have onshore deballasting
facilities to receive any fouled ballast water from tankers where
operationally or legally required.

30262. (a) Oil and gas development shall be permitted in accordance
with Section 30260, if the following conditions are met:
(1) The development is performed safely and consistent with the
geologic conditions of the well site.
(2) New or expanded facilities related to that development are
consolidated, to the maximum extent feasible and legally permissible,
unless consolidation will have adverse environmental consequences
and will not significantly reduce the number of producing wells,
support facilities, or sites required to produce the reservoir
economically and with minimal environmental impacts.
(3) Environmentally safe and feasible subsea completions are used
if drilling platforms or islands would substantially degrade coastal
visual qualities, unless the use of those structures will result in
substantially less environmental risks.
(4) Platforms or islands will not be sited where a substantial
hazard to vessel traffic might result from the facility or related
operations, as determined in consultation with the United States
Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers.
(5) The development will not cause or contribute to subsidence
hazards unless it is determined that adequate measures will be
undertaken to prevent damage from that subsidence.
(6) With respect to new facilities, all oilfield brines are
reinjected into oil-producing zones unless the Division of Oil, Gas,
and Geothermal Resources of the Department of Conservation determines
to do so would adversely affect production of the reservoirs and
unless injection into other subsurface zones will reduce
environmental risks. Exceptions to reinjections will be granted
consistent with the Ocean Waters Discharge Plan of the State Water
Resources Control Board and where adequate provision is made for the
elimination of petroleum odors and water quality problems.
(7) (A) All oil produced offshore California shall be transported
onshore by pipeline only. The pipelines used to transport this oil
shall utilize the best achievable technology to ensure maximum
protection of public health and safety and of the integrity and
productivity of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
(B) Once oil produced offshore California is onshore, it shall be
transported to processing and refining facilities by pipeline.
(C) The following guidelines shall be used when applying
subparagraphs (A) and (B):
(i) "Best achievable technology," means the technology that
provides the greatest degree of protection taking into consideration
both of the following:
(I) Processes that are being developed, or could feasibly be
developed, anywhere in the world, given overall reasonable
expenditures on research and development.
(II) Processes that are currently in use anywhere in the world.
This clause is not intended to create any conflicting or duplicative
regulation of pipelines, including those governing the transportation
of oil produced from onshore reserves.
(ii) "Oil" refers to crude oil before it is refined into products,
including gasoline, bunker fuel, lubricants, and asphalt. Crude oil
that is upgraded in quality through residue reduction or other means
shall be transported as provided in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(iii) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall apply only to new or
expanded oil extraction operations. "New extraction operations" means
production of offshore oil from leases that did not exist or had
never produced oil, as of January 1, 2003, or from platforms,
drilling island, subsea completions, or onshore drilling sites, that
did not exist as of January 1, 2003. "Expanded oil extraction" means
an increase in the geographic extent of existing leases or units,
including lease boundary adjustments, or an increase in the number of
well heads, on or after January 1, 2003.
(iv) For new or expanded oil extraction operations subject to
clause (iii), if the crude oil is so highly viscous that pipelining
is determined to be an infeasible mode of transportation, or where
there is no feasible access to a pipeline, shipment of crude oil may
be permitted over land by other modes of transportation, including
trains or trucks, which meet all applicable rules and regulations,
excluding any waterborne mode of transport.
(8) If a state of emergency is declared by the Governor for an
emergency that disrupts the transportation of oil by pipeline, oil
may be transported by a waterborne vessel, if authorized by permit,
in the same manner as required by emergency permits that are issued
pursuant to Section 30624.
(9) In addition to all other measures that will maximize the
protection of marine habitat and environmental quality, when an
offshore well is abandoned, the best achievable technology shall be
used.
(b) Where appropriate, monitoring programs to record land surface
and near-shore ocean floor movements shall be initiated in locations
of new large-scale fluid extraction on land or near shore before
operations begin and shall continue until surface conditions have
stabilized. Costs of monitoring and mitigation programs shall be
borne by liquid and gas extraction operators.
(c) Nothing in this section shall affect the activities of any
state agency that is responsible for regulating the extraction,
production, or transport of oil and gas.

30263. (a) New or expanded refineries or petrochemical facilities
not otherwise consistent with the provisions of this division shall
be permitted if (1) alternative locations are not feasible or are
more environmentally damaging; (2) adverse environmental effects are
mitigated to the maximum extent feasible; (3) it is found that not
permitting such development would adversely affect the public
welfare; (4) the facility is not located in a highly scenic or
seismically hazardous area, on any of the Channel Islands, or within
or contiguous to environmentally sensitive areas; and (5) the
facility is sited so as to provide a sufficient buffer area to
minimize adverse impacts on surrounding property.
(b) New or expanded refineries or petrochemical facilities shall
minimize the need for once-through cooling by using air cooling to
the maximum extent feasible and by using treated waste waters from
inplant processes where feasible.

30264. Notwithstanding any other provision of this division except
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 30413, new or expanded thermal
electric generating plants may be constructed in the coastal zone if
the proposed coastal site has been determined by the State Energy
Resources Conservation and Development Commission to have greater
relative merit pursuant to the provisions of Section 25516.1 than
available alternative sites and related facilities for an applicant's
service area which have been determined to be acceptable pursuant to
the provisions of Section 25516.

30265. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Transportation studies have concluded that pipeline transport
of oil is generally both economically feasible and environmentally
preferable to other forms of crude oil transport.
(b) Oil companies have proposed to build a pipeline to transport
offshore crude oil from central California to southern California
refineries, and to transport offshore oil to out-of-state refiners.
(c) California refineries would need to be retrofitted if
California offshore crude oil were to be used directly as a major
feedstock. Refinery modifications may delay achievement of air
quality goals in the southern California air basin and other regions
of the state.
(d) The County of Santa Barbara has issued an Oil Transportation
Plan that assesses the environmental and economic differences among
various methods for transporting crude oil from offshore California
to refineries.
(e) The Governor should help coordinate decisions concerning the
transport and refining of offshore oil in a manner that considers
state and local studies undertaken to date, that fully addresses the
concerns of all affected regions, and that promotes the greatest
benefits to the people of the state.

30265.5. (a) The Governor, or the Governor's designee, shall
coordinate activities concerning the transport and refining of
offshore oil. Coordination efforts shall consider public health
risks, the ability to achieve short- and long-term air emission
reduction goals, the potential for reducing California's
vulnerability and dependence on oil imports, economic development and
jobs, and other factors deemed important by the Governor, or the
Governor's designee.
(b) The Governor, or the Governor's designee, shall work with
state and local agencies, and the public, to facilitate the transport
and refining of offshore oil in a manner which will promote the
greatest public health and environmental and economic benefits to the
people of the state.
(c) The Governor, or the Governor's designee, shall consult with
any individual or organization having knowledge in this area,
including, but not limited to, representatives from the following:
(1) State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission.
(2) State Air Resources Board.
(3) California Coastal Commission.
(4) Department of Fish and Game.
(5) State Lands Commission.
(6) Public Utilities Commission.
(7) Santa Barbara County.
(8) Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District.
(9) Southern California Association of Governments.
(10) South Coast Air Quality Management District.
(11) Oil industry.
(12) Public interest groups.
(13) United States Department of the Interior.
(14) United States Department of Energy.
(15) United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(16) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(17) United States Coast Guard.
(d) This act is not intended, and shall not be construed, to
decrease, duplicate, or supersede the jurisdiction, authority, or
responsibilities of any local government, or any state agency or
commission, to discharge its responsibilities concerning the
transportation and refining of oil.