The PCL Insider: News From The Capitol

SETBACKS IN SACRAMENTO: "POLLUTER PAYS" BILLS VETOED BY GOVERNOR

Oh California, land of the free and home of externalized costs. 

In California it pays to be a polluter. Every year companies and individuals are allowed to "pass the buck," releasing harmful pollutants into the environment that damage our health and natural environment without being held fiscally accountable. For example, by 2020, polluting activity from operations at California's ports and associated goods movement is estimated to have an aggregate health impact of approximately $200 billion, but those costs will be borne by individual residents and the State coffers, not the polluters. 

If we're going to get serious about protecting our state we need to start putting our money where our mouth is. That means identifying sources of pollution and demanding that they "pony up" for their impacts.

This year California had several opportunities to do just that. Three courageous legislators authored bills that that would have collected a fee for specific polluting activities to pay for environmental mitigation. Through a truly Herculean effort by the Legislature and environmental and public health advocates, the bills made it through both houses and onto the Governor's desk.

Last Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger brought all the momentum to a grinding halt, announcing in a press conference that he had vetoed all three bills. We're very disappointed by the Governor's decision, especially because these bills would have helped achieve the greenhouse gas emission reductions required by AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which the Governor publicly supports and plans to sign into law tomorrow.

Here's what the vetoed bills would have done:

SB 927 (Lowenthal) would have imposed a $30 fee on all shipping containers that move through the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles for air quality improvements, infrastructure and security, directly addressing the adverse impacts currently experienced by lower income residents living in the immediate vicinity.

AB 2838 (Pavley) would have allowed a fee of up to $6 for all new vehicles in coastal and San Francisco Bay Area counties to fund a Coastal Environmental Motor Vehicle Mitigation Program.

AB 2444 (Klehs) would have allowed both the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the nine Bay Area counties' Congestion Management Agencies to impose a fee of up to $5 for environmental mitigation and congestion management.

Although these priority bills are "dead" for this year, the fight is not over. The strong coalitions that came together in support of SB 927, AB 2838 and AB 2444, including many members of PCL, will continue the struggle to make polluters pay. As the movement grows so do our chances of success.