Public resources.

(1) Existing law defines land as a material of earth and includes free or occupied space for an indefinite upward or downward distance for the purpose of prescribing ownership of land. This bill would specify that free space includes pore space that can be possessed and used for the storage of gaseous or liquid substances. (2) Under the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981, the State Fire Marshal exercises safety regulatory jurisdiction over intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of hazardous or highly volatile liquid substances. The act imposes various requirements in relation to the regulation of these intrastate pipelines and requires the State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations, not later than June 30, 1991, that establish procedures for maintaining, testing, and inspecting mainline valves and check valves on intrastate hazardous liquid pipelines. A person who willfully and knowingly violates the act or a regulation issued pursuant to the act is, upon conviction, subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment, as provided. This bill would expand the regulation of intrastate pipelines under the act to intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide, as defined, including by revising the definition of "pipeline" for purposes of the act to also include intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide. The bill would exempt from the act intrastate gas pipelines regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations, not later than January 1, 2023, that establish procedures for maintaining, testing, and inspecting mainline valves and check valves on intrastate hazardous liquid and carbon dioxide pipelines. By imposing additional requirements under the act, and requiring the State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations, relating to intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide, a violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes. (3) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA requires a lead agency to consult with a responsible agency, which is a public agency, other than the lead agency, that has responsibilities in carrying out or approving a project, in conducting the lead agency's environmental review. This bill would designate the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission as the lead agency and specified state agencies as responsible agencies for carbon capture and storage projects under CEQA. The bill would require the commission to coordinate the development of performance standards for carbon capture and storage sites, as prescribed. (4) Existing law, enacted as part of the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015, requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the State Air Resources Board (state board) , to direct electrical corporations to file applications for programs and investments to accelerate widespread transportation electrification, as defined, to achieve specified results. The PUC is required to approve, or modify and approve, programs and investments in transportation electrification, including those that deploy charging infrastructure, through a reasonable cost recovery mechanism, if they meet specified requirements. This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the state board and the Energy Commission, to authorize gas corporations to file applications for investments in programs to accelerate the use of carbon capture and sequestration or utilization to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases consistent with state carbon reduction goals. The bill would require the PUC to approve, or modify and approve, programs and investments in carbon pipelines, and carbon capture-related infrastructure and storage, through a reasonable cost recovery mechanism. (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.