Governor Rejects Solution to Port Air Pollution, Leaving Public Health at Risk
In the dark of the night Tuesday, Governor Schwarzenegger chose to stand with major corporations and turn his back on the millions of Californians who had relied on him to fulfill his promise to clean our air. The Governor likes to tout his environmental credentials, but yesterday he vetoed the most important environmental bill on his desk, SB 974 (Lowenthal) and in doing so, reneged on his commitment to find a solution to the health epidemic caused by the massive amounts of air pollution resulting from the movement of goods throughout California.
SB 974 - The Clean Ports Investment Act - would have raised $300 million a year to fund critical air pollution mitigation efforts and improve freight transportation throughout California. Approximately 3,700 deaths and 360,000 sick days in California each year are directly linked to toxic emissions from goods movement and ten people a day die from air pollution linked to the ports. The California Air Resources Board estimates that over the next 14 years, the state will spend an additional $200 billion in health care costs directly related to goods movement pollution. SB 974 would have provided a steady funding stream to tackle these problems.
In his veto message, the Governor pointed to Proposition 1B from 2006, the measure he wholeheartedly backed that asked the voters to pony up to clean up freight related air pollution. However, with his veto last night the Governor has sent the message that it's okay for the taxpayers to shoulder the costs but he won't ask the polluters to pay their fair share.
To say that California's environment fell victim to the Governor's veto pen yesterday would be a monumental understatement. The real victims are the children that live by the ports or any of the major freeways lacing our state.
Last year, the Governor promised to find a solution to this health crisis, and based on that promise supporters of the bill and the bill's author worked tirelessly with the Governor's staff and business interests to determine if there were other options. None were found. We're appalled that after so much effort the Governor capitulated to political pressure from big corporations and let California down.
Governor Fails the Environment by vetoing two common sense measures ON WILDFIRES AND CEQA
Along with his veto of SB 974 (Lowenthal), the Governor vetoed many other significant pieces of environmental legislation. Here are two that are particularly disturbing:
Yesterday, the Governor vetoed AB 2447 (Jones) which sought to ensure that the state follows a few common sense principles regarding fire danger as our population grows. The bill, the most meaningful measure on the Governor's desk related to wildfire danger, simply asked that all new developments have fire protection and that new communities are designed to ensure the lives of residents and firefighters are not put at risk unnecessarily. Given the unprecedented wildfires we've seen this year and knowing that catastrophic wildfires will be more frequent as global warming increases, Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of AB 2447 is remarkably irresponsible.
The Governor also vetoed SB 68 (Kuehl), a PCL-sponsored measure to help bring a bit of clarity to counties, cities, and the public bringing lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Currently, those filing lawsuits have no way of knowing for certain whom they must include in a lawsuit. So, to prevent their case from being thrown out for accidentally omitting a relevant individual, filers cast a wide net and include people they later learn are not involved in the proposed project. This practice, while necessary, serves no one. PCL worked with the California Building Industry Association and the California League of Cities to ensure SB 68 provided a practical solution to this problem. Yet despite the lack of any opposition to the measure, the Governor decided to reject it.
Full breakdown of top bills Signed and vetoed
SIGNED:
AB 31 (de Leon) - A comprehensive measure that allocates $400 million from Proposition 84 to address the need for neighborhood parks in the most park-poor communities throughout California, consistent with Proposition 84 criteria. Creates a competitive grant program for distributing funds through eligible public agencies and non-profit organizations to ensure California's park-starved communities receive the health, economic and environmental benefits that local parks provide.
AB 1879 (Feuer) - Enacts chemical policy reform by requiring the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to identify and prioritize chemicals of concern in consumer products, evaluate the hazard traits of chemicals and their alternatives, and establish a range of regulatory actions to protect public health and the environment.
AB 2222 (Caballero) - Directs the State Water Resources Control Board to recommend investments and policies necessary to assist regions throughout California in protecting and cleaning up vital groundwater resources.
AB 2356 (Arambula) - Helps small disadvantaged communities avoid a cash-flow crisis by giving the State Water Resources Control Board the authority to disburse up to twenty-five percent of a wastewater infrastructure grant to a disadvantaged community in advance of costs incurred. Currently, grants are disbursed on a reimbursement basis and can take up to two months to process, making it difficult for disadvantaged communities to pay their contractors.
AB 2522 (Arambula) - Authorizes the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District to increase the existing vehicle registration fee from $6 to up to $30 for incentive-based programs to achieve state and federal air quality standards and requires at least $10 million of the revenues to be used to mitigate air pollution in disproportionately impacted communities in the San Joaquin Valley.
SB 375 (Steinberg) - Requires regional transportation agencies to adopt a sustainable communities strategy within its existing regional transportation plan that will provide adequate housing for all economic segments of a region and meet regional greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set by the California Air Resources Board, taking into consideration the impacts of development of important resources lands and farmland. Provides CEQA incentives for development projects within a local jurisdiction whose general plan is consistent with the sustainable communities strategy.
SB 509 (Simitian) - Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish a web-based Toxics Information Clearinghouse containing data on the hazard traits of chemicals and, with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, to identify human health and environmental hazards posed by chemicals used in consumer products, based on available data.
SBX2 1 (Perata) - Directs existing bond funds to programs and projects that will help stabilize the Bay Delta Estuary and increase water supply reliability throughout the state.
VETOED:
AB 2447 (Jones) - Requires a city or county to make a finding that a new subdivision has adequate fire protection prior to approving the project. Also requires that the project have at least two escape routes and that the design allows all necessary safety improvements, such as turnarounds, defensible space, and emergency water systems.
AB 2970 (Eng) - Requires the Department of Water Resources to develop a Delivery Reliability Report for the State Water Project. This legislation advances accurate water planning by ensuring that water agencies base forecasts of water supply on reliable and scientifically valid information.
SB 68 (Kuehl) - Provides increased clarity during CEQA litigation by specifying that the parties that must be named in a lawsuit are limited to those who received an approval for the project and are listed by the public agency in its notice of determination or notice of exemption. The current uncertainty as to who must be named forces petitioners to cast a wide net and name all the parties they believe might have received an approval, resulting in unnecessary parties being included in a lawsuit.
SB 775 (Ridley-Thomas) - Establishes a program that will increase screenings of California children for risk of lead poisoning through the use of the immunization program, improve reporting of information by laboratories to better track cases of lead poisoning, require the Department of Public Health to provide annual reports regarding screening and lead poisoning rates in California, and make information about lead available to pregnant women.
SB 974 (Lowenthal) - Establishes a fee of $30 per shipping container (20-foot equivalent) that passes through the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, with fee revenues used equally to improve infrastructure and reduce traffic congestion in port corridors and to reduce air pollution from the ports.
SB 1113 (Migden) - Allows a court, upon motion, to award attorney's fees and other costs, including expert witness fees, to a successful party in any action that has resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest.
SB 1313 (Corbett) - Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution of any food contact substance that contains perfluorinated compounds in any concentration exceeding ten parts per billion; requires manufacturers to use the least toxic alternatives when replacing perfluorochemicals or their precursors; and prohibits manufacturers from replacing perfluorinated compounds with certain carcinogens and reproductive toxins.
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