Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981: civil penalties.

Under existing law, the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981, the State Fire Marshal exercises safety regulatory jurisdiction over intrastate pipelines, and, to the extent authorized by federal law, interstate pipelines used for the transportation of hazardous or highly volatile liquid substances. Existing law provides that a violation, as determined by the State Fire Marshal, of the act, or any regulation adopted pursuant to the act, subjects a person to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each day that the violation persists, except that the maximum civil penalty is not permitted to exceed $500,000 for any related series of violations. Existing law requires these penalties to be deposited into the Local Training Account in the California Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Fund, available upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. This bill would raise the civil penalties to $200,000 for each day that a violation persists, and the maximum for any related series of violations to $2,000,000.