Cal. PUC § 7718
This is the official text of Cal. PUC § 7718, part of California’s Public Utilities Code — regulates utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and transportation carriers.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Official statutory text
(a) The Railroad Accident Prevention and Immediate Deployment Force is hereby created in the California Environmental Protection Agency. The force shall be responsible for providing immediate onsite response capability in the event of large-scale releases of toxic materials resulting from surface transportation accidents and for implementing the state hazardous materials incident prevention and immediate deployment plan. This force shall act cooperatively and in concert with existing local emergency response units. The force shall consist of representatives of all of the following:
(1) Department of Fish and Game.
(2) California Environmental Protection Agency.
(3) State Air Resources Board.
(4) California Integrated Waste Management Board.
(5) California regional water quality control boards.
(6) Department of Toxic Substances Control.
(7) Department of Pesticide Regulation.
(8) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
(9) State Department of Public Health.
(10) Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(11) Department of Food and Agriculture.
(12) Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(13) Department of Parks and Recreation.
(14) Public Utilities Commission.
(15) Any other potentially affected state, local, or federal agency.
(16) Office of Emergency Services.
(b) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall develop a state railroad accident prevention and immediate deployment plan in cooperation with the State Fire Marshal, affected businesses, and all of the entities listed in paragraphs (1) to (17), inclusive, of subdivision (a).
(c) The plan specified in subdivision (b) shall be a comprehensive set of policies and directions that every potentially affected state agency and business shall follow if there is a railroad accident to minimize the potential damage to the public health and safety, property, and the environment that might result from accidents involving railroad activities in the state.
(1) Department of Fish and Game.
(2) California Environmental Protection Agency.
(3) State Air Resources Board.
(4) California Integrated Waste Management Board.
(5) California regional water quality control boards.
(6) Department of Toxic Substances Control.
(7) Department of Pesticide Regulation.
(8) Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
(9) State Department of Public Health.
(10) Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(11) Department of Food and Agriculture.
(12) Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(13) Department of Parks and Recreation.
(14) Public Utilities Commission.
(15) Any other potentially affected state, local, or federal agency.
(16) Office of Emergency Services.
(b) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall develop a state railroad accident prevention and immediate deployment plan in cooperation with the State Fire Marshal, affected businesses, and all of the entities listed in paragraphs (1) to (17), inclusive, of subdivision (a).
(c) The plan specified in subdivision (b) shall be a comprehensive set of policies and directions that every potentially affected state agency and business shall follow if there is a railroad accident to minimize the potential damage to the public health and safety, property, and the environment that might result from accidents involving railroad activities in the state.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in California?
Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.