BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1205
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1205 (Escutia)
As Amended August 21, 2006
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :21-13
NATURAL RESOURCES 7-3 JUDICIARY 6-3
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|Ayes:|Hancock, Koretz, Laird, |Ayes:|Jones, Berg, Laird, |
| |Lieu, Nava, Salda?a, Wolk | |Levine, Lieber, Monta?ez |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|La Malfa, Keene, Villines |Nays:|Haynes, Leslie, Wyland |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg, | | |
| |Calderon, | | |
| |De La Torre, Klehs, Leno, | | |
| |Nation, Laird, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas, Saldana, | | |
| |Yee | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Sharon Runner, Emmerson, | | |
| |Haynes, Nakanishi, | | |
| |Saldana | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Enacts the Children's Breathing Rights Act (Act) and
increases the penalty caps for specified violations of
nonvehicular air pollution control laws. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires the state Air Resources Board (ARB) to post on its
website by January 1, 2008, and annually thereafter, the same
information on air quality violations that local air districts
provide to the US Environmental Protection Agency in an open
and transparent manner.
SB 1205
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2)For local air districts serving a population of more than one
million, requires judgments and final settlement agreements
entered into by a local air district to be posted on the
district's website, if they are public records. For local air
districts serving a population of less than one million,
requires either the information be posted on the district's
Web site or post a statement explaining how to obtain such
information.
3)Increases the maximum penalties for specified violations of
air pollution laws from nonvehicular sources.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Substantial penalty revenue, potentially in the millions of
dollars annually statewide starting 2006-07, generated by
several increased civil penalties imposed by local air
districts on violators of nonvehicular air pollution control
laws. (Local air district accounts.)
2)Minor costs, probably less than $75,000 annually starting in
2007-08, to the ARB to process local air district data and to
make this information available on its Web site. (Air
Pollution Control Fund.)
COMMENTS : The federal Clean Air Act (CAA), enacted in 1970,
attempted to create a nationwide solution to the growing problem
of air pollution. Under CAA, US EPA develops national ambient
air quality standards (NAAQS) for certain pollutants. CAA
leaves the decision of how to implement the NAAQS up to the
states through their State Implementation Plan (SIP).
Additionally, CAA mandated the creation of New Source
Performance Standards (NSPS) for new or modified stationary
sources. California's implementation of CAA, following US EPA's
established standards, assigned creation of standards to ARB.
ARB is designated as the state agency with the primary
responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, while
local air pollution control districts are designated with the
primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from
stationary sources.
California is divided into 35 air quality districts. Each
district is run by a local air pollution control officer with
SB 1205
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discretion over enforcement of air pollution regulations within
that district. Based on the type of violation, maximum
penalties range from between $1,000 to $1,000,000 per violation
per day. No minimum penalty is required, leaving the amount
prosecuted at the discretion of the air pollution control
officer. According to the author, this bill addresses the
problem of current fines being a "minor inconvenience" for
polluters, stating, "Without increasing penalties for serious or
chronic air polluters, some of California's major air-polluting
industries that put profit over pollution prevention may find it
more cost-effective to violate environmental laws and place
competitors that comply with environmental laws at an economic
disadvantage."
Analysis Prepared by : Joanne Roy / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
FN: 0016546