Senate Joint Resolution
No. 13
CHAPTER 149
Relative to the Navy North Hangar Fire.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
July 17, 2024.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 13, Newman.
Navy North Hangar Fire: contamination cleanup.
This measure would, among other things, urge the United States Congress and President Joseph R. Biden to support a $100,000,000 supplemental funding request to address the ongoing impacts on public health, the environment, and the local economy caused by cross-jurisdictional pollution from the Navy North Hangar Fire. The measure would also urge President Biden to declare a national emergency due to those ongoing impacts, and would urge President Biden and the United States Congress to include in future federal budgets sufficient ongoing operational and maintenance funding for Navy North Hangar Fire remediation.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, The United States Navy owns the site of former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, on which the North Hangar structure was located before a catastrophic fire that started on November 7, 2023; and
WHEREAS, The Navy North Hangar Fire burned for 24 days, deposited tons of debris, including toxic contaminants such as asbestos and lead from the Navy North Hangar, into a broad area of the community of Tustin, California, and affected over 1,500 homes and businesses, 29 schools, and 14,000 individuals; and
WHEREAS, The debris has been studied for exposure levels by an environmental health team that includes the South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Orange County Health Care Agency, United States Navy, Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, and University of California, Irvine, and that is determined to protect against significant public health risks; and
WHEREAS, The City of Tustin has proclaimed a state of local emergency since November 9, 2023, as a result of asbestos and lead debris contaminants deposited into the City of Tustin; and
WHEREAS, The Tustin Unified School District and its students were greatly impacted by school closures and disruptions due to threatening air quality conditions and the contamination impacts; and
WHEREAS, The Orange County Transportation Authority was impacted due to public concern for air quality; and
WHEREAS, The County of Orange, on November 9, 2023, proclaimed a local emergency due to the public health, environmental, and economic impacts of the pollution disaster; and
WHEREAS, The City of Tustin has contracted for emergency services to protect the public and environment in excess of $80,000,000; and
WHEREAS, The City of Tustin is expending over 100 percent of its annual budget on this incident; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the United States Congress and President Joseph R. Biden to support a $100,000,000 supplemental funding request to address the ongoing impacts on public health, the environment, and the local economy caused by cross-jurisdictional pollution from the Navy North Hangar Fire; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature urges President Joseph R. Biden to declare a national emergency due to the ongoing impacts to public health, the environment, and the local economy caused by cross-jurisdictional pollution from the Navy North Hangar Fire; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature urges President Joseph R. Biden and the United States Congress to include in future federal budgets sufficient ongoing operational and maintenance funding for Navy North Hangar Fire remediation; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, to the Governor, to the Attorney General, and to the author for appropriate distribution.