Energy: transportation fuels: inventories: turnaround and maintenance.

(1) Existing law, beginning on June 26, 2023, establishes the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee within the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to advise the Energy Commission and the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, as provided. Existing law prescribes the composition of the 8-member committee, including 6 specified members appointed by the Governor, one member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member appointed by the Senate Rules Committee. This bill would repeal the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee and instead would establish a 6-member Expert Advisory Committee to advise the Energy Commission and division, as provided. The bill would require 4 of the members of the committee to be appointed by the Governor, one member to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one member to be appointed by the Senate Rules Committee. The bill would, among other things, require all members of the committee to either hold an academic appointment in, or demonstrate expertise of, economics or business operations of the transportation fuels market, and would prohibit all members of the committee from having been employed by, contracted with, or received direct compensation from, a company that produces, refines, distributes, trades in, markets, or sells any petroleum product in the preceding 12 months. (2) Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and labor and industry stakeholders, to consider ways to manage necessary refinery turnarounds and maintenance that would protect the health and safety of employees and the public, and minimize the impacts of maintenance-related production losses on fuel prices. Existing law authorizes the commission, by regulation, to impose requirements governing the timing of turnaround and maintenance. This bill would expressly authorize those regulations to include criteria that are required to be met before a refinery commences a turnaround or maintenance event, as provided. This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Expert Advisory Committee, to consider the effects of refiners' inventories of fuel and feedstocks and blending components on the price of transportation fuels in California. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission, by regulation, to develop and impose requirements for refiners operating in the state to maintain minimum levels of inventories of refined transportation fuels meeting California specifications, including any feedstocks and blending components, as specified. This bill would impose an administrative civil penalty on a refiner or person who fails to comply with regulations adopted pursuant to the above-described authority and would authorize the Energy Commission to seek any form of injunctive or remedial relief to enforce compliance with those regulations, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the Energy Commission, on or before January 1, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter, to submit an assessment to the Governor and the Legislature that, among other things, identifies methods to ensure a reliable supply of affordable and safe transportation fuels in California, as provided. This bill, beginning with the first assessment submitted after January 1, 2025, would require that assessment to also include (A) an evaluation of California's future petroleum product import needs and identified steps that can be taken to ensure that marine infrastructure and port facilities will be adequate to accommodate the efficient movement of petroleum products, and, for those purposes, would require the Energy Commission to consult with specified entities, and (B) an evaluation of the effects on supplies of transportation fuels of state regulations that the Energy Commission identifies may be causing supply constraints, or for which the Energy Commission believes alternative compliance pathways should be considered by state agencies to mitigate potential impacts on supply.