Existing law requires each gas corporation to develop a plan for the safe and reliable operation of its Public Utilities Commission-regulated gas pipeline facility. Existing law requires the commission and gas corporation to provide opportunities for meaningful, substantial, and ongoing participation by the gas corporation workforce in the development and implementation of the plan, with the objective of developing an industrywide culture of safety that will minimize accidents, explosions, fires, and dangerous conditions for the protection of the public and the gas corporation workforce.
This bill would require the commission, whenever it opens a proceeding related directly or indirectly to gas corporation safety, to notify all employee organizations representing the gas corporation's employees and to grant party status to those organizations before the first prehearing conference. If the commission conducts a phase, track, or other part of a safety-related proceeding subsequent to the initial phase, track, or part, the bill would require the commission to conduct a new prehearing conference and to notify those employee organizations. The bill would specify that these requirements apply to all safety-related proceedings open as of January 1, 2025.