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Press Release
October 10, 2005
Contact: Rico Mastrodonato, CLCV (415-572-3107)

Governor Veers Left and Right on Environmental Legislation

Legislature Fails to get some of Biggest Bills to his Desk

Oakland - Governor Schwarzenegger officially ended the 2005 legislative session over the weekend with a flurry of bill signings and vetoes for this year’s crop of environmental bills. In keeping with the tone he set last year, the Governor vetoed almost as many of the major environmental bills as he signed to close a session that will be remembered more for the bills that never even made it to his desk.

“The Legislature and the Governor get mixed reviews this year,” said Susan Smartt, executive director of the California League of Conservation Voters. “While the Governor signed some environmental bills into law, he also vetoed several good bills. But some of the most important bills – to reduce the state’s dependence on oil, put solar on new homes, cut air pollution at ports – died for lack of support in the Legislature.”

Among the important environmental bills presented to the Governor which he signed into law:

• AB 338 (Levine) - Requires CalTrans to increase its use of recycled tires in asphalt concrete for building or repairing roads.
• AB 405 (Montañez) - Prohibits the use of experimental and conditional use pesticides at schools.
• AB 1125 (Pavley) - Requires retailers to take back used recycled batteries.
• AB 1328 (Wolk) - Adds portions of Cache Creek to the state Wild and Scenic Rivers system.
• SB 484 (Migden) - Requires cosmetic manufacturers to identify ingredients in their products known to the state to cause cancer or birth defects.

Among the environmental bills the Governor vetoed:

• SB 600 (Ortiz) - Establishes the Healthy Californians Bio-monitoring Program to identify the presence and concentration of synthetic chemicals in the bodies of tested individuals.
• SB 455 (Escutia) – Strengthens enforcement of pesticide violations; requires investigations of human illness caused by pesticide exposures to be completed within 60 days.
• SB 658 (Kehoe) – Authorizes $6 vehicle fee by counties to mitigate coastal water quality impacts.

Several of the year’s most significant environmental legislation never made it to the Governor’s desk and failed in the legislature or were held over to next year because of lack of support. Among the critical bills that fall into this category were:

• SB 1 (Murray) - Established the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, designed to place one million solar energy systems, equaling 3,000 megawatts, on residential and commercial structures.
• SB 757 (Kehoe) - Required state to take cost-effective and feasible steps to reduce oil consumption and increase use of alternatives fuels.
• SB 764 (Lowenthal) – Established air pollution reduction targets for the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.
• AB 528 (Frommer) - Authorized personal enforcement of specified environmental laws, if public enforcement agencies fail to act.

“California faces big environmental challenges,” said Smartt, “but the Legislature and Governor are barely getting over the low hurdles. We made some small gains in 2005, but we all need to do much better in 2006.”

© 2008 California League of Conservation Voters. Contact us.