Oil spill prevention and response fees: collection.

(1) The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act generally requires the administrator for oil spill response, acting at the direction of the Governor, to implement activities relating to oil spill response, including emergency drills and preparedness, and oil spill containment and cleanup, and to represent the state in any coordinated response efforts with the federal government. The act imposes an oil spill prevention and administration fee in an amount determined by the administrator to be sufficient to implement oil spill prevention activities, but not to exceed $0.065 per barrel of crude oil or petroleum products, and to be remitted to the State Board of Equalization. The act requires the oil spill prevention and administration fee to be imposed upon a person owning crude oil or petroleum products at the time that the crude oil or petroleum products are received at a marine terminal or refinery by specified modes of delivery from within or outside the state, as specified. The act prohibits the fee from being collected by a marine terminal operator or refinery operator or imposed on the owner of crude oil or petroleum products if the fee has been previously collected or paid on the crude oil or petroleum products at another marine terminal or refinery and, in that case, requires a marine terminal operator, refinery operator, or owner of crude oil or petroleum products to demonstrate that the fee has already been paid. This bill instead would authorize a marine terminal operator or a refinery operator receiving petroleum products derived from crude oil refined in the state to presume the fee has been previously collected. The bill would also no longer require the owner of the crude oil or petroleum products to remit the fee to the board. The bill would make conforming changes. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the board collect the oil spill prevention and administration fee only upon first delivery to a refinery or marine terminal and not upon the subsequent movement of that same crude oil or petroleum products following that first delivery. (2) Existing law requires every person who operates a refinery in this state, a marine terminal in waters of the state, or a pipeline to transport crude oil or petroleum products out of the state to register with the board. Existing law defines, for the purposes of the board's administration of those provisions, certain terms, including, among others, oil. This bill instead would require every person who operates a refinery in this state, a marine terminal in waters of the state, or a pipeline to transport crude oil out of the state or petroleum products into the state to register with the board for the purposes of the oil spill prevention and administration fee and the uniform oil spill response fee, as applicable. The bill would delete the definition of oil, and would define barrel to mean 42 gallons of crude oil or petroleum products for these purposes.