Public Utilities Commission: Office of the Safety Advocate.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, and water corporations. Existing law requires the commission to appoint an executive director who is responsible for the commission's executive and administrative duties and is required to organize, coordinate, supervise, and direct the operations and affairs of the commission and expedite all matters within the commission's jurisdiction. Existing law establishes the Office of the Safety Advocate within the commission, until January 1, 2020, to advocate for the continuous, cost-effective improvement of the safety management and safety performance of public utilities. Existing law requires the office to undertake specific actions, including that it recommend improvements to the commission's safety management policy and procedures and the commission's safety culture. This bill would extend the operation of the Office of the Safety Advocate until January 1, 2025, and would require the office to conduct safety trainings for commission staff, as specified. The bill would move from the office to the commission the requirement to recommend improvements to the commission's safety management policy and procedures and its safety culture, would require those recommendations to be made annually, as specified, and would require the executive director to report the commission's findings and recommendations to a subcommittee of the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to contract with an independent entity to audit the effectiveness of the commission's safety performance. Existing law requires the commission to report on various subjects to the Legislature. This bill would require the commission to annually report to the chairperson of the appropriate policy committee of each house of the Legislature on the actions taken by the commission in response to recommended improvements to the commission's safety management policy and procedures and its safety culture, and on the impact of commission safety trainings, with appropriate assessments, surveys, and interviews of staff pertaining to their understanding and implementation of the commission's safety management system and safety culture. The bill would require the office, by February 1 of each year, to provide to the appropriate policy committee of each house of the Legislature information on the actions taken by the office to recommend improvements to public utility safety management policy and procedures and safety culture, and information on proceedings in which the office participated and a brief description of the testimony it filed.