15475. The office is the successor to, and, effective July 1, 2021, is vested with, all of the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the Wildfire Safety Division established pursuant to Section 326 of the Public Utilities Code, including, but not limited to, the power to compel information and conduct investigations. All laws prescribing the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the Wildfire Safety Division to which the office succeeds, together with all lawful rules and regulations established under those laws, are expressly continued in force. In carrying out its duties, powers, and responsibilities pursuant to this part and Section 326 of, and Sections 8385 to 8389, inclusive, of, the Public Utilities Code, or other statutes pertaining to the office, the following powers, duties, and responsibilities vested in the office are acknowledged and confirmed:
(a) The office shall adopt, amend, or repeal emergency regulations to implement this part in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1). The adoption, amendment, or repeal of these regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency for the purpose of Section 11342.545 and shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general welfare.
(b) The office may require information and data, including monitoring, verification of every regulated entity and any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a regulated entity with respect to or that may influence any matter concerning wildfire safety, or that is necessary or useful for the office to perform and exercise its duties, powers, and responsibilities.
(c) The office shall provide for the confidentiality of records, the protection of proprietary information, and the protection of the reasonable expectation of customers of public utilities in the privacy of customer-specific records maintained by the regulated entity. As the successor entity to the Wildfire Safety Division, the office shall continue to have access to and transfer any confidential information received by the Wildfire Safety Division under the authority of the Public Utilities Commission to the office consistent with appropriate protections to maintain the confidentiality of that information. The office and the Public Utilities Commission shall agree upon provisions for the transfer of that information.
(d) The office may require the production, within this state, at a time and place as it designates, of any books, accounts, papers, records, including computer modeling, programs, and other digital records, kept by a regulated entity in any office or place within this state, or, at its option, verified copies in lieu thereof, so that an examination thereof may be made by the office or under its direction to the extent the production of the records relates to an investigation that falls within the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the office.
(e) The office and persons employed by the office, may, at any time, inspect the accounts, books, papers, and documents, including any digital information, of any regulated entity. The office and any of its designees or employees authorized to administer oaths may examine under oath any officer, agent, or employee of a regulated entity in relation to its business and affairs concerning matters within the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the office. This subdivision also applies to inspections of the accounts, books, papers, and documents of any business that is a subsidiary or affiliate, or a corporation that holds a controlling interest in a regulated entity that is subject to regulation by the office.
(f) Each regulated entity shall cooperate fully with the office in any investigation conducted consistent with this section, regardless of pending litigation or other investigations, including, but not limited to, those that may be related to investigations conducted by the Public Utilities Commission, or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The office and the Public Utilities Commission will cooperate and coordinate consistent with the memorandum of understanding required by Section 15476.
(g) Every regulated entity shall furnish to the office, in the form and detail as the office prescribes, all tabulations, computations, and other information required for the office to perform its duties, powers, and responsibilities, and shall make specific answers to all questions submitted by the office. Every regulated entity receiving from the office any blanks with directions to fill them shall answer fully and correctly each question propounded to it, and if it is unable to answer any question, it shall give a good and sufficient reason for that failure.
(h) Every regulated entity shall furnish those reports to the office at the time and in the form as the office may require in which the regulated entity shall specifically answer all questions propounded by the office. The office may require any regulated entity to file reports or periodic special reports, or both, concerning any matter about which the office is authorized by any law to inquire or to keep itself informed, or that it is required to enforce. All reports shall be under oath when required by the office.
(i) The office and persons employed by or acting on behalf of the office may enter and inspect regulated entity property, records, and equipment at any time and anywhere within the state. Any member of the inspection party may utilize whatever measurement and evaluation devices, including, but not limited to, photographic equipment and temperature measurement devices, that are determined to be necessary. Documentation of the inspection shall be the property of the office. This subdivision is not a limitation upon the authority of any agency to inspect pursuant to any other law.
(j) The office and persons employed by or acting on behalf of the office may inspect at any time and anywhere within the state, all regulated entities’ properties and equipment for purposes of carrying out the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the Wildfire Safety Division as set forth in this part or Section 326 of, and Sections 8385 to 8389, inclusive, of, the Public Utilities Code, which are vested in the office as the division’s successor, or other statute pertaining to the office.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 115, Sec. 16. (AB 148) Effective July 22, 2021.)