Hazardous materials: natural gas odorants.

Existing law authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt, amend, and repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. Existing regulations adopted pursuant to that authorization require natural gas that is delivered into any vessel or system, as specified, to have a distinctive odor of sufficient intensity so that the presence of the gas may be detected down to concentrations in air of not over 20% of the lower explosive limit, and require that these odorants be, among other things, harmless to humans, nontoxic, and noncorrosive to certain metals. This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2019, that includes an assessment of any potential danger of odorants currently used in natural gas storage facilities in the state to public health and safety and the environment, and that identifies alternative odorants for possible use in natural gas storage facilities, as specified. The bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to consult with appropriate entities, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.