BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 30
Author: Stone (D), et al.
Amended: 8/26/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-11, 9/3/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution memorializes the Congress and the
President of the United States to respect the rights of states
to protect the health of their citizens, and to not enact the
federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act (S. 1009) in its current
form containing provisions that preempt a state's authority to
protect the public from toxic or harmful chemicals.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Allows, under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA), states to apply a higher degree of protection than
set by a federal rule, so long as state requirements do not
make it impossible to also comply with the federal law or
unduly burden interstate commerce.
2. Allows, under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act, which governs solid hazardous waste, state programs to
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become certified and to assume primary responsibility for
enforcement of these federal laws.
3. Allows states to enforce federal regulations regarding
consumer safety.
4. Provides, according to the U.S. Constitution, that the
powers not delegated to the U.S. by the Constitution are
reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
5. Prohibits, under the state Safe Drinking Water and Toxic
Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65), businesses from
discharging harmful chemicals into sources of drinking water
and requires public warnings to be posted regarding the
presence of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects,
or other reproductive harm.
6. Establishes the state Safer Consumer Products Program (Green
Chemistry Program) to decrease California's exposure to toxic
substances by identifying and prioritizing chemicals of
concern and evaluating safer alternatives to toxic chemicals
through a science-based approach.
7. Authorizes the Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt
regulations to reduce the volatile organic compounds
emissions from consumer products that produce ozone and
particulate matter associated with respiratory diseases.
8. Requires, under the California Occupational Carcinogen
Control Act of 1976, employers to report the use of
carcinogens to the California Environmental Protection
Agency.
This resolution:
1. Declares that California has historically acted in advance of
the federal government to protect its citizens, including
vulnerable subpopulations such as children and pregnant
women, against the harms of exposure to toxic substances and
other harmful chemicals through strong environmental laws and
regulations, which have also driven innovation in the
development of safer products.
2. Declares that California voters overwhelmingly approved
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Proposition 65, which added the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic
Enforcement Act of 1986, to decrease California's exposure to
toxic substances known to cause cancer, birth defects, or
other reproductive harm by requiring labeling of consumer
products containing these substances.
3. Declares that the Legislature enacted the Green Chemistry
Program in 2008 to identify and prioritize chemicals of
concern and evaluate safer alternatives to toxic chemicals
through a science-based approach.
4. Declares that the Legislature enacted the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32 (Nunez), Chapter 488,
Statutes of 2006), a first-in-the-world comprehensive program
of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve quantifiable
and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases.
5. Declares that the ARB adopted regulations beginning in 1991 and
continuing as recently as 2013 to reduce the volatile organic
compounds emissions from consumer products that contribute to
the formation of ozone and particulate matter that
exacerbates respiratory diseases such as asthma.
6. Declares that the current version of the federal Chemical
Safety Improvement Act, S. 1009, has broad preemption
provisions that prevent states from acting to address
potential risks of toxic substances and other harmful
chemicals, as well as from exercising state enforcement
powers that put at risk several California programs that
protect public health, including those listed above, among
others.
7. Memorializes the Congress and the President of the U.S. to
respect the rights of states to protect the health of their
citizens, including children and pregnant women, and to not
enact the federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act (S. 1009)
in its current form containing provisions that preempt a
state's authority to protect the public, including from toxic
substances and other harmful chemicals.
This resolution memorializes the Congress and the President of
the U.S. to respect the rights of states to protect the health
of their citizens, and to not enact the federal Chemical Safety
Improvement Act (S. 1009) in its current form containing
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provisions that preempt a state's authority to protect the
public from toxic or harmful chemicals.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/12/13)
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris
Breast Cancer Fund
Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy
Center for Environmental Health
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/12/13)
American Chemistry Council
Toy Industry Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Attorney General Kamala Harris states
that although the TSCA is in need of reform, S. 1009 in its
current form would harm California's ability to protect our
environment and the health and welfare of our citizens. The
Attorney General states that the preemption language in the
federal proposal jeopardizes many California laws including
Proposition 65 which protects California citizens and drinking
water sources from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth
defects, and other reproductive harms. Under the authority of
Proposition 65, the Attorney General has required manufactures
and distributors of vinyl "jump houses" for children to lower
the levels of lead when these levels were found to be
significant, required manufactures of wooden playground
structures to stop using wood treated with chromated copper
arsenic which had exposed children to high levels of arsenic,
and required manufactures of certain candies to reduce the high
levels of lead.
The Attorney General also states that S. 1009 would prohibit
states from enforcing state laws regulating chemical substances
determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be
"high priority" even before federal regulations become
effective, and, thus, create a period of months or potentially
years when the chemical substances remain unregulated.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The American Chemistry Council (ACC)
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and the Toy Industry Association (TIA) state that in regard to
this resolution, they have an "oppose unless amended" position.
According to ACC and TIA, the federal Chemical Safety
Improvement Act (CSIA) represents the most comprehensive,
bi-partisan effort in decades to amend the TSCA in order to
improve the safety of American consumers and ensure that risks
from chemical substances are adequately understood and managed.
ACC and TIA state that the CSIA's preemption provisions are
narrow in scope and only apply in situations when the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has made a decision about a
specific chemical and specific uses. They state that the CSIA
does not create a blanket preemption of state regulatory
programs like Proposition 65 or the Safer Consumer Products
regulation.
ACC and TIA state that the CSIA contains language that
specifically grants authority to the states to retain the
ability to enact laws regarding water quality, air quality, or
waste treatment and disposal. ACC and TIA also state the CSIA
would not preempt any state regulations that require monitoring
or information gathering and reporting and it does not preempt
any program authorized by federal law. Additionally, ACC and
TIA state that the CSIA allows states to apply for a waiver in
two cases: (1) when compelling local conditions dictate a state
response, or (2) when EPA's assessment and determination are
unreasonably delayed.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-11, 9/3/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell,
Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Allen, Ch�vez, Fox, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Harkey,
Logue, Maienschein, Nestande, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Frazier,
Hagman, Hall, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Mansoor, Olsen, Patterson,
Perea, Wagner, Vacancy, Vacancy
RM:k 9/12/13 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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