2006 Scorecard:
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- Snapshot of the Numbers: Assembly and Senate averages
- Read our narrative of the Year in Review
- Bill Descriptions
- Read the press release
ecovote.org > scorecard > 2006 California Environmental Scorecard
2006 California Environmental Scorecard
Bill Descriptions
Air Quality & Global Warming | Water | Renewable Energy & Clean Fuels | Toxics, Pesticides, & Dangerous Chemicals | Natural Resource Protection | Smart Growth & Good Government
Air Quality & Global Warming
1. California makes history — Greenhouse Gas Emissions to be Capped
Washington D.C. fiddles while the world slowly but surely burns from the steady buildup of greenhouse gas emissions. California has taken decisive action on its own. AB 32 (Núñez/Pavley), the Global Warming Solutions Act, phases in a cap on greenhouse gas emissions to reduce them to 1990 levels by 2020, a 20% reduction. California thus becomes a world leader in the fight against global warming and points the way for other states, other countries, and even our own federal government. Signed by the Governor.
2. Better Planning = Better Air Quality
Transportation and land use planning is a complicated mix of many factors, and much of the planning depends on sophisticated modeling that can either minimize or encourage urban sprawl. AB 1020 (Hancock) would have required regional transportation planning agencies to update their transportation models to incorporate policies that reduce traffic jams, travel times, and air pollution. Vetoed by the Governor.
3. Improving Indoor Air Quality
According to a 2005 report by the Air Resources Board (ARB), indoor air pollution is the new frontier of air quality. Though it poses significant health risks, almost no programs or regulations exist to reduce and prevent indoor air pollution. AB 3018 (Lieber) would have required the ARB to establish a program to prevent and control indoor air pollution. Died on Assembly Floor.
4. Tackling Railroad Emissions
According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, NOx pollution (which forms smog) from railroad operations in southern California exceeds the emissions from 350 of the largest oil refineries, power plants, chemical plants and other industrial facilities combined — and rail traffic in southern California is expected to triple over the next 20 years. But railroads are regulated mainly by the federal government, which has failed to crack down on these pollution sources. SB 459 (Romero) would have allowed the South Coast AQMD to impose an emissions fee on railroads in southern California to fund measures to mitigate the impact of railroad emissions. Died on Assembly Floor.
5. Cleaning up the Nation’s Biggest Polluter
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the biggest in the United States and are expected to triple the amount of goods moved in the next 20 years. The heavy truck and rail traffic to and from the ports, in addition to extensive in-port machinery, makes the LA/Long Beach ports by far the biggest source of air pollution in California. SB 927 (Lowenthal) would have imposed a $30 fee on each ship container entering the ports, to be used equally to fund air pollution mitigation, rail improvements, and port security. Vetoed by the Governor.
6. Air Quality Boards - More Experts, Better Representation
For years, the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District has failed to act aggressively to curb the valley’s ever-worsening air pollution. SB 999 (Machado) would have revised and expanded the membership of the district board by requiring that the valley’s three largest cities — Fresno, Bakersfield, and Stockton — are represented and by adding two new members, a physician and a scientist or engineer, both with expertise in air pollution. Died on Assembly Floor.
7. Cutting the Risk of Asthma
The occurrence of asthma in children has increased by 60% in California in the last 10 years and is now the number one cause of student absenteeism due to chronic illness. SB 1205 (Escutia) would have increased penalties for violations of various air pollution rules and increased the information on violators available on the Air Resources Board web site. Died on Assembly Floor.
8. Protecting California from Bush Policy — Part I
The US EPA has been a busy agent of the Bush Administration’s plan to roll back environmental protections. In addition to proposing to weaken the Toxics Release Inventory (see AB 2490 and SB 1478), it also proposed to exempt agricultural and mining sources of particulate matter (PM) pollution from clean air standards and to remove rural areas from protections against dust pollution (PM 10). SB 1252 (Florez) would have maintained the existing standards and penalties in the event they were relaxed by the federal government. Died on Assembly Floor.
Water
9. A Cleaner Coast — Part I
The environmental impacts of vehicles go far beyond air pollution. Just as some counties have the authority to increase vehicle registration fees to help mitigate air pollution impacts from vehicles, AB 2444 (Klehs) would have allowed individual Bay Area counties, by a two-thirds vote of the county supervisors, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to each increase fees by up to $5 per vehicle, to manage traffic congestion and mitigate coastal pollution from vehicles. Vetoed by the Governor.
10. A Cleaner Coast — Part II
As with AB 2444, AB 2838 (Pavley) would have authorized any of 12 coastal and Bay Area counties to impose a fee up to $6 per vehicle to reduce the environmental impacts of motor vehicles and roads. Unlike AB 2444, AB 2838 required only a majority vote of county supervisors to approve the fee, but allowed fees to be collected only after five counties opted in. In his veto message for AB 2838 as well as AB 2444, Governor Schwarzenegger insisted on a direct vote of all voters in a county instead of a vote by elected supervisors. Vetoed by the Governor.
11. Assessing Our Use of Water
Last year the Governor vetoed SB 820 (Kuehl), which required increased reporting on surface water and groundwater uses. In his veto message the Governor noted that SB 820 did not provide adequate information for the state to assess groundwater use trends. This year Senator Kuehl returned with SB 1640 (Kuehl), which responded to the Governor’s veto message and included provisions of SB 820 that had been successfully negotiated with agricultural and water interests — apparently to no avail. Vetoed by the Governor.
Renewable Energy & Clean Fuels
12. Clean Vehicles for California
Which comes first: the alternative fuel or the alternative fuel vehicle? Too often, the answer is neither. AB 1012 (Nation) would have been the first legislation that attempts to overcome that “chicken and egg” problem by requiring that 50 percent of the vehicles sold in California by 2020 run on clean alternative fuels and that gas stations provide alternative fuels once a threshold number of vehicles are in the state. Vetoed by the Governor.
13. Getting the Most Out of Our Utilities
Publicly-owned utilities, including the behemoth Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, produce about one-quarter of all electricity consumed in California. Still they lag far behind in meeting the state’s 10-year target for reducing the state’s electricity demand through energy efficiency measures. AB 2021 (Levine) will strengthen the process by which publicly-owned utilities are held accountable to meet their energy efficiency targets. Signed by the Governor.
14. Clean Energy for California — Sooner
In 2002 the Legislature established the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which required all privately-owned utilities to get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017. In 2003 candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to accelerate the RPS to 20% by 2010. After the Governor’s veto of a previous RPS acceleration bill in 2004, SB 107 (Simitian) now requires that the 20% renewables requirement be met in 2010. Signed by the Governor.
15. Making Liquefied Natural Gas a Safe Option
California depends heavily on natural gas to generate electricity and heat with less air pollution than coal or heating oil. The state is now considering several proposals for coastal terminals to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ship, but those terminals pose a variety of environmental and public safety risks. SB 426 (Simitian) would have required the California Energy Commission (CEC) to evaluate and rank proposed LNG terminals and would have allowed the Governor to approve only a site ranked among the top two by the CEC. Died in Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.
16. Cutting the Petroleum Umbilical
From the local gas station to Iraq, the impacts of our dependence on petroleum are evident. Just as California has been an international leader in reducing air pollution, SB 757 (Kehoe) would have established state policy that state agencies should take every cost-effective and technologically feasible action to reduce the state’s dependence on petroleum, increase vehicle efficiency, and the use of alternative fuels. Vetoed by the Governor.
17. Clean Electricity
California utilities buy about 20% of the electricity used in California from out-of-state generating plants that burn coal, which is a heavy contributor to greenhouse gases. As part of the state’s overall strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020, SB 1368 (Perata) requires the California Energy Commission to set a greenhouse gas emission standard for baseload electricity generation (the minimum amount of electricity for California’s day to day needs) and prohibits utilities to enter into long-term contracts for electricity that exceeds the standard. Signed by the Governor.
Toxics, Pesticides, & Dangerous Chemicals
18. Finding the Chemicals in our Environment
It’s troubling enough that tens of thousands of chemicals are introduced into commerce and the environment with little or no data on their health or environmental effects, but when public health and environmental scientists don’t even know how to detect the chemicals in the environment, the consequences can be potentially harmful. AB 289 (Chan) allows state agencies to require manufacturers of specified chemicals to give the state an analytical method for detecting the chemicals in the environment. Signed by the Governor.
19. Toxic Toys: No Laughing Matter
Unlike most developed nations, the U.S. and California have no systematic program to identify chemicals used in commerce that may have harmful effects on human health. In the absence of government oversight, independent scientific studies are identifying chemicals that mimic sexual hormones and disrupt the endocrine system. One of those chemicals is bisphenol-A, which is frequently used in many plastic products designed for infants and children, including baby bottles, pacifiers and toys. AB 319 (Chan) would have prohibited the use of bisphenol-A in toys and other products designed for children under three years of age. Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
20. Get the Lead Out — Permanently
No one disputes that exposure to lead in drinking water has long-term toxic effects, especially on infants and children. That’s why lead pipes in plumbing were outlawed years ago. However, lead is still used to manufacture faucets and other fixtures that come in contact with drinking water, at levels up to 8 percent. AB 1953 (Chan) requires faucets, fittings and fixtures to be lead-free by 2010 — a standard that more than two dozen manufacturers say they can meet. Signed by the Governor.
21. Protecting California from Bush Policy — Part II
The federal Toxics Release Inventory is the nation’s premier community right-to-know law about toxics released into the environment. It requires industrial facilities to report the amount of 650 hazardous chemicals they release and dispose of every year. The Bush Administration, through the US EPA, proposed to increase by ten-fold the minimum amount of chemicals a plant must release before it submits information and to require reporting only every other year. AB 2490 (Ruskin) would have required the state, in the event that the Bush rollback had been implemented, to continue to collect toxics release information as required before the rollback. Vetoed by the Governor.
22. Protecting Our Kids at Day Care
The Healthy Schools Act of 2000 required public day care centers and K-12 schools to notify parents of the pesticides expected to be used at the schools and to allow parents to sign up for a notice whenever pesticides were applied. AB 2865 (Torrico) extends the same notice requirements to private day care facilities. Signed by the Governor.
23. Monitoring Chemicals in our Bodies
Biomonitoring — the practice of voluntarily testing human blood, urine and breast milk for the presence of synthetic chemicals — gives scientists and doctors more complete and accurate information about chemical exposures and helps determine whether the chemical exposures contribute to illnesses such as breast cancer. SB 1379 (Perata & Ortiz) establishes the California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program to detect the presence of environmental toxins that are suspected of adversely affecting human health. Signed by the Governor.
24. Protecting California From Bush Policy — Part III
Like AB 2490, SB 1478 (Speier) responded to a federal proposal to weaken the Toxics Release Inventory, a successful program that requires industrial facilities to report annually on the toxic chemicals they dispose of or release into the environment. SB 1478 would have established a “California TRI” at CalEPA in the event US EPA weakened the federal TRI program and, unlike AB 2490, given CalEPA authority to collect data on additional chemicals of concern. Died on Assembly Floor.
Natural Resource Protection
25. Saving the Sea Otters
Something is killing California’s sea otters, and unlike in the past, it’s not hunters. A ban on taking of sea otters rescued them from being totally lost off the California coast. This time it’s disease and pathogens, and one suspected source is cat litter that is flushed into the sewer system and ends up in coastal waters. AB 2485 (Jones) increases penalties for the poaching of sea otters, authorizes a state tax check-off for the newly-established California Sea Otter Fund, and requires a notice against disposal in sewers to be printed on cat litter sold in the state. Signed by the Governor.
26. Strengthening the Department of Fish and Game
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is a deeply troubled agency, with growing responsibilities and a shrinking ability to meet them. The state, for example, has fewer game wardens than it did 20 years ago. Most of DFG’s problems are due to chronic underfunding and a Byzantine fee collection method that hamstrings the agency’s activities. SB 1535 (Kuehl) increases DFG’s environmental filing fees, indexes other filing fees to inflation, and declares legislative intent to secure new funding sources to adequately fund DFG’s wildlife protection activities. Signed by the Governor.
Smart Growth & Good Government
27. Development in the Flood Plains
The adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly applies to flood protection, where strong levees are only part of the solution. An alarming amount of residential development in the Central Valley occurs in flood plains. AB 1899 (Wolk) would have required local governments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River watershed to certify that residential development projects have 100-year flood protection and a plan to achieve 200-year protection. Held in Senate Rules Committee.
28. Recovering the Cost of Protecting Californians
A core part of the Attorney General’s responsibility is to prosecute “public rights” cases, such as environmental, consumer fraud, and civil rights. In 2004 the Legislature gave the A.G. the authority to recover court costs when they prevail in a case — the same authority enjoyed by private attorneys and a number of state Attorneys General. When a subsequent court ruling invalidated the authority on an unrelated technicality, the Legislature passed SB 1489 (Ducheny), to clarify and affirm the A.G.’s authority to recover costs for these important “public rights” cases. Vetoed by the Governor.
29. Improving Flood Protection in Central Valley
From its limited responsibilities to its very name, the Reclamation Board is an anachronism. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the realization that California’s Central Valley is the least flood-protected region of the country, SB 1796 (Florez) would have renamed the board as the Central Valley Flood Protection Board; required board members to have technical expertise; and required the board to develop a strategic flood protection plan, review local land-use plans, and recommend changes to those plans to improve flood protection. Vetoed by the Governor.
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