Amended
IN
Assembly
August 26, 2013
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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 30
Introduced by Assembly Member Stone
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Atkins, Fong, Rendon, and Williams)
(Coauthor: Senator Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier and Pavley)
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August 06, 2013 |
Relative to the federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 30, as amended, Stone.
Federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act.
This measure would memorialize the Congress and the President of the United States 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 in its current form containing provisions that provide for the preemption of a state’s authority to protect the public from toxic substances and other harmful chemicals.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, 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 in consumer products and other harmful chemicals through strong environmental laws and regulations, which have also driven innovation in the development of safer products; and
WHEREAS, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 65, which added the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 25249.5) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code), 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 toxic substances; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature enacted Article 14 (commencing with Section 25251) of Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, which is otherwise known as 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; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature enacted the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code), a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve quantifiable and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases; and
WHEREAS, The State Air Resources Board adopted regulations, beginning in 1991 and continuing as recently as 2013 (see, for example, Section 94509 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations), to reduce the volatile organic compounds emissions from consumer products because these compounds produce contribute to the formation of ozone and particulate matter that exacerbates respiratory diseases such as asthma; and
WHEREAS, The current version of the federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act (Sen. No. 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; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature memorializes the Congress and the President of the United States 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 (Sen. No. 1009) in its current form containing provisions that provide for the preemption of a state’s authority to protect the public, including from toxic substances and other harmful chemicals; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate Chief Clerk of the Assembly 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 the authors of Senate Bill No. 1009, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.