Two Major Environmental Bills Stopped in the Final Days of Session

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The first year of the 2013-14 Legislative Session ended at midnight on Friday, September 13, 2013.  CLFP staff was successful in stopping two onerous proposals that would have had significant impacts on the food processing industry.

Disadvantaged Communities: Green Zone Trust Fund

One of the defeated proposals included Assembly Bill 1330 (J. A. Pérez; D-Los Angeles) which was created just days before the close of the legislative session as a "gut and amend" measure.  This bill would have doubled most fines and penalties issued by the Air Resources Board, Department of Toxic Substances Control and Air Quality Management Districts on facilities located in "disadvantaged communities."

More specifically, AB 1330 sought to establish the Green Zone Trust Fund, funded by civil and criminal fines and penalties exacted on facilities located within communities in the state deemed to be disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards, regardless of any causal relationship between a facility’s conduct and the factors that led to the community’s characterization.

CLFP, working with a large coalition of business interests, provided a strong and vocal opposition to this bill.  In addition to opposing the bill on its merits, the coalition informed the bill’s author there was no compelling event or circumstance that required it to be adopted in 2013. Citing the last minute gut and amend, the coalition emphasized the need for transparency and greater public input allowing stakeholders and legislators adequate time to discuss the policy merits and drawbacks of the measure.

AB 1330 was placed on the Senate Floor inactive file on September 12.

Dramatic Increase in Penalties

Also stopped in the final week of the session was Senate Bill 691 (Hancock; D-Berkeley), that proposed a tenfold increase in penalties for Title V facilities for a one-day nuisance violation  from a maximum of $10,000 under current law to a maximum of $100,000.

Proponents claimed that SB 691 was intended to apply only to "major events," like the Chevron refinery fire in Richmond, California.  However, the bill did not define "major events" or establish criteria for this enhanced penalty.

CLFP argued that nuisance penalties are relatively low because "nuisance" is a strict-liability offense. This means that someone accused of creating a nuisance can be held liable even if they had no knowledge of the event and no intent to create a nuisance. So, under SB 691, an air district would simply have to allege that several people had complained about an air emission and the alleged violator would have been subject to enormous liability.

SB 691 was also placed on the Assembly Floor inactive file on September 12.

While neither measure moved out of the Legislature this year, they may be considered again next year.  The CLFP staff will remain diligent on monitoring these measures and engaging when appropriate. 

Eliminated Use of Sector-based Offsets for AB 32 Compliance

SB 726 (Lara; D-Bell Gardens), in its initial form made the Western Climate Initiative (WCI, Inc.) subject to California’s sunshine laws.

However, late session amendments introduced new language that prohibited the use of sector-based greenhouse gas emission offsets for compliance with the California Global Warming Solutions Act until January 1, 2017.  The Air Resources Board’s (ARB) Cap-and-Trade regulation allows regulated entities to use offsets to meet a very limited portion of their required greenhouse gas emissions reductions.  Prohibiting the use of offsets for compliance obligations would have increased the cost of compliance for all industrial entities subject to the Cap-and-Trade without any environmental benefits.

CLFP and other industry representatives opposed this amendment and were successful in having it stricken from the bill.  However, new amendments added new problems.

Amended just days before the end of session, SB 726 directed ARB to develop a comprehensive strategy to inventory and reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP) in the state.  It introduced a new definition of short-lived climate pollutants that was not included in AB 32 in addition to expanding California’s climate policy and the jurisdiction of the Air Resources Board.

After an intensive lobbying effort by coalition forces, SB 726 was again amended to remove the objectionable language.  In fact, the author returned the bill to an earlier version dealing with the WCI, Inc. process.

SB 729 was passed by the Senate in this final form and sent to the Governor for his signature September 12. 

Article written by Trudi Hughes and John Larrea, CLFP Government Affairs Directors

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