(a) Upon certification of the appropriate environmental documents by the lead agency, the commission shall determine, or cause to be determined, the cost savings that will result from the partial removal of an offshore oil structure as proposed in the application compared to full removal of the structure.

(b) The commission shall ensure that any cost savings are accurately and reasonably calculated. The commission may contract or enter into a memorandum of understanding with any other appropriate governmental agency or other party, including an independent expert, to ensure that cost savings are accurately and reasonably calculated.

(c) The commission shall consider any estimates of cost savings made by any governmental agency, including, but not limited to, the Internal Revenue Service, the Franchise Tax Board, and the United States Department of the Interior. The commission shall include in its determination a written explanation, which shall be available to the public, of the differences, and the reasons for the differences, between the commission’s determination of cost savings and any other estimates of cost savings the commission considered.

(d) The applicant shall provide all necessary documentation, as determined by the commission, to allow the commission to calculate the amount of cost savings. Failure to provide information requested by the commission in a timely manner may result in rejection of the application.

(e) The determination made pursuant to this section and submitted to the department by the commission shall constitute the final determination and shall not be revised except by the commission.

(f) The commission shall take all feasible steps to complete its determination in a timely manner that accommodates the department’s schedule for consideration of the application.

(Added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 687, Sec. 1. (AB 2503) Effective January 1, 2011.)