(a) If the local health officer or their designee is notified of a leak in an active gas pipeline, that is within the jurisdiction of the Geologic Energy Management Division and within a sensitive area, pursuant to Section 3270.6 of the Public Resources Code and the local health officer or their designee determines that the leak poses a risk to public health or safety and that the response to the leak has been inadequate to protect the public health or safety, the local health officer or their designee shall, working collaboratively with the division and the owner or operator of the pipeline, do both of the following:
(1) Direct the responsible party to test, to the satisfaction of the agency overseeing the testing, the soil, air, and water in the affected area for contamination caused by the leak and disclose the results of the tests to the public.
(2) Make a determination, based on the result of the tests, on whether the leak poses a serious threat to the public health and safety of residents affected by the leak, and require the responsible party to provide assistance, including temporary relocation, to those residents if the local health officer or their designee so determines.
(b) If the local health officer or their designee determines, based on the results of the test, that the leak poses a serious threat to public health and safety, the local health officer or their designee shall direct the responsible party to notify all residents affected by the leak.
(c) The responsible party shall be liable for the costs incurred by the local health officer or their designee pursuant to this section.
(d) Providing resident assistance and reimbursement for local health officer expenses shall not relieve a responsible party from liability for damages, and a responsible party shall not condition assistance or request a waiver of liability from the recipient of the assistance.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 771, Sec. 5. (AB 1057) Effective January 1, 2020.)