Public resources: transportation of carbon dioxide.

Senator Stern, working with principal coauthor Senator McNerney and Assembly Member Petrie-Norris, advances a comprehensive safety framework for intrastate pipelines carrying carbon dioxide, placing the State Fire Marshal at the center of regulatory authority and tying project approvals to adherence to a new, federally informed safety standard set. The core shift expands the definition of pipeline to include intrastate CO2 lines and assigns exclusive safety regulatory and enforcement authority over those pipelines to the State Fire Marshal, with the potential to coordinate with federal action on interstate segments as permitted by federal agreement. The bill also requires that intrastate pipelines be approved only if originally built for CO2 transport and only with new pipe or components, prohibiting the use of previously used pipelines or parts. A key siting constraint restricts CO2 pipelines from locating near sensitive receptors within an emergency planning zone of two miles, absent specified exceptions.

To operationalize these changes, the bill directs the Fire Marshal to adopt regulations by July 1, 2026 that are, at a minimum, as protective as the federal draft safety standards issued in January 2025 for carbon dioxide transport by pipeline. Regulations may be amended over time to address design, materials, location, leak detection, emergency response, odorant use, and other safety dimensions, with the initial rulemaking treated as an emergency regulation and exempt from certain regulatory‑impact analyses. The legislation also requires a rigorous planning regime: for projects involving CO2 pipelines, the lead agency must prepare an environmental review or equivalent documentation, and upon completing a draft, notify owners and operators of sensitive receptors within a quarter‑mile of the proposed route and inform the Fire Marshal. The Fire Marshal must then provide a written confirmation of consistency with the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act, and the agency must publicly disclose its determination.

A central feature is the requirement to inventory and map risk within the emergency planning zone. Operators must submit a complete inventory and map—including a list of sensitive receptors, precise locations, and, if available, CFD modeling results—to the Fire Marshal and the lead CEQA agency, in a format aligned with accessibility standards. These inventories and maps must be updated at least every three years and provided to local governments serving emergency responders within the planning area; public access to current inventories and maps is required with personally identifiable information redacted. Operators must also share redacted maps with sensitive receptors on an annual basis for public awareness, and the lead agency and Fire Marshal are tasked with reviewing the inventories for completeness and accuracy on the same three‑year cycle. The bill authorizes the Fire Marshal to order a pipeline shutdown for violations or imminent danger and provides that a rupture would leave the pipeline nonoperational pending an investigation, after which operations may resume only with determinations by the Fire Marshal in consultation with other agencies.

The bill situates intrastate CO2 transport within a broader regulatory and policy context. It clarifies that only pipelines meeting the new state standards may be recognized by the state board for purposes of carbon capture and storage governance, and it requires that interstate CO2 transport continue to be governed by federal rules, with intrastate portions handled under state authority. It requires statutory alignment with the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act and related environmental review processes, and it introduces a funding mechanism shift whereby civil penalties may support fire training for hazardous gas response. Privacy considerations are acknowledged in a targeted finding justifying the redaction of certain inventory data. Taken together, the measures establish a more centralized, standards-based approach to CO2 pipeline safety that integrates regulatory oversight with environmental review, local emergency planning, and public transparency, while preserving coordination with federal standards where appropriate.