(a) The commission shall establish a surcharge to be paid by operators with distribution systems subject to this chapter on propane purchased for distribution to their customers. The surcharge shall be designed to partially recover the commission’s costs of the propane safety inspection and enforcement program required by this chapter, and to partially recover the commission’s costs of collecting and administering the surcharge. The commission shall collect the surcharge from the operators and deposit it into the Propane Safety Inspection and Enforcement Program Trust Fund, for transfer to the commission’s Utilities Reimbursement Account in the General Fund, which shall be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of Chapter 4.1 (commencing with Section 4451) of Division 2 of the Public Utilities Code. The surcharge shall be assessed on a per space or lot basis, shall not exceed twenty-five cents ($0.25) per month, and shall be collected by the commission on an annual basis.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or local ordinance, rule, regulation, or initiative measure, the operator shall be entitled to recover the surcharge collected pursuant to subdivision (a) from its customers. However, the charge to any customer, to allow for the operator’s recovery, shall not exceed the actual surcharge.
(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 1005, Sec. 70. Effective January 1, 2000.)