(a) By January 1, 2020, the commission shall establish the Wildfire Safety Division within the commission, located in Sacramento, California. The Wildfire Safety Division shall do all of the following:
(1) Oversee and enforce electrical corporations’ compliance with wildfire safety pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 8385) of Division 4.1.
(2) In consultation with the California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board, develop and recommend to the commission performance metrics to achieve maximum feasible risk reduction to be used to develop the wildfire mitigation plan and evaluate an electrical corporation’s compliance with that plan. For this purpose, “maximum feasible” means capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social, and technological factors.
(3) Develop a field audit program for wildfire mitigation plan compliance by each electrical corporation.
(4) Consult with the Office of Emergency Services in the office’s management and response to utility public safety power shutoff events and utility actions for compliance with public safety power shutoff program rules and regulations.
(5) Support efforts to assess and analyze fire weather data and other atmospheric conditions that could lead to catastrophic wildfires and to reduce the likelihood and severity of wildfire incidents that could endanger the safety of persons, properties, and the environment within the state.
(6) Retain appropriate staff that includes experts in wildfire, weather, climate change, emergency response, and other relevant subject matters.
(7) Review, as necessary, in coordination with the California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board and necessary commission staff, safety requirements for electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure and infrastructure and equipment attached to that electrical infrastructure, and provide recommendations to the commission to address the dynamic risk of climate change and to mitigate wildfire risk.
(b) Effective July 1, 2021, all functions of the Wildfire Safety Division shall be transferred to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety established pursuant to Section 15473 of the Government Code.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 81, Sec. 7. (AB 111) Effective July 12, 2019.)