Assembly Standing Committee on Emergency Management

Alright, everyone. We're just gonna start. Good evening. Mr... Whatever. Good evening. I'm Assembly Member Rhodesia Ransom, Chair of Emergency Management. I'd like to welcome everyone. Tonight, we have eight bills that are eligible today, four of which are on consent. Each bill is entitled to a primary witness in support and a primary witness in opposition. Each witness will be allotted two minutes, and we do have a timer today.

Following these presentations, additional individuals may approach the microphone. If you do so, please state your name, affiliation, and your position on the bill, support or oppose. Written testimony may be submitted directly to the committee. With that, let's establish a quorum. Secretary, please call the roll.

Quorum call. [Roll Call]

Thank you. Alright. So we do have a quorum. With that being said, we're going to move to the next item, which is our consent calendar. On consent, we have SB 837, Reyes, SB 894, Allen, SB 973, Becker, and SB 1079, Stern. Thank you. We have a motion, a first, and second. Secretary, please call the vote on the items on the consent calendar.

Items on the consent calendar, SB 837, Reyes, SB 894, Allen, SB 973, Becker, and SB 1079, Stern. The motion is do pass to the Committee on Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Thank you. We'll hold the roll open for I think we have an absent... No. Yeah. Our absent Member. Thank you. Okay. So next up, we're gonna go into our bill hearings. So we're going to hear bills today in sign in order. First up, we have Senator Seyarto.

Alright. Senator, we have you with us, Senate bill 904 regarding recovery from wildfires. You may begin when you're ready.

Thank you very much.

It's the

mic on. There we go. Thank you, honorable Chair and committee members. I'm here to present SB904, and I am accepting the committee amendments today.

Response efforts demonstrated in the LA County and Palisades Fires last year, and ensures similar responses will

be undertaken for all future state of emergency wildfire disasters. Specifically, the bill codifies similar provisions from executive order N four two five that focus on identifying permitting requirements and building codes that may impede rebuilding efforts and could potentially be streamlined. The bottom line is that this sort of urgent coordination called for by SB 904 should be the standard procedure for all wildfire disasters moving forward.

This bill will help to ensure that no wildfire disaster affected communities get overlooked in the future, recovery efforts, and are all treated, with the same urgency. I respectfully ask for your aye vote, and I do did not bring any witnesses today at this late hour.

So just trying to get the momentum going for your committee.

Yeah. We appreciate that. Thank you. We appreciate that. Thank you for your testimony.

Being that there are no primary witnesses registered in support, Is there anyone who'd like to come forward regard with support? Is there any support on the bill? Okay. We don't have any witnesses registered in opposition. Is there anyone who'd like to speak in opposition of the bill?

I see no one. Is there anyone who'd like to, oppose the bill? Okay. Well, seeing no one, let's bring it back to the members. Are there any questions for the Senator?

I I Alright. We have a motion by Assembly member Calderon, a second by Assemblyman DeMaio. With that, let's or do you have any closing comments, Senator?

I just simply ask for an aye vote. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you for that. Secretary, we have a first and second. The motion is do passed as amended to the committee on appropriations. Please call the vote.

SB 904 Sciarto. The motion is do passed as amended to the committee on appropriations. Ransom? Aye. Ransom, aye.

Hedwick?

Aye.

Hedwick, aye. Arambula? Aye. Arambula, aye. Baines?

Bennett? Bennett, aye. Calderon? Calderon, aye. De Maio?

Aye. De Maio, aye.

Thank you.

Awesome. We'll leave the role open for the- the absent member. Next up, we have Senator Maguire. Senator Maguire, we have Senate bill 1263 related to contractors and debris removal. You may begin whenever you are ready.

Thank you so much, madam chair. How you doing? Good evening. I know it's been a long day. Good evening to each and every one of you.

Thank you so much for allowing us to be able to advance today, SB 1263. Wanna first of all say thank you madam Chair for all your work. Thank you for your staff's work on this. Course, we're gonna accept the committee amendments, and I know that I'm gonna be brief. Otherwise, the Chair is gonna throw the gavel at me.

So, let me just get, go right into it. It's- It is a straightforward bill. It's a safety measure that mandates only licensed general engineering, general building, earthwork, and paving, and building and moving demolition contractors can perform post disaster residential debris removal work. This is, I believe our fourth bill that we've advanced to be able to hold, contractors, unscrupulous contractors accountable. The bill also ensures that within these three categories, each have to meet the basic safety and training, standards when handling hazardous materials.

That's called HAZWOPER. Number one, the bill clearly defines which contractors are authorized to perform debris removal. It- It advances HAZWOPER training. And wanna say thank you so much to Dave Fogt, who is here today. He is head of the contractor state licensing board, who is, of course, in support of this bill.

We are grateful for him. And finally, here today, we have Chris Snyder from operator engineers local three, who will be our lone presenter. The last thing I'll just say, madam Chair, and I promise I'm gonna keep this thirty seconds or less. We've been working with, the opposition. We do have tentative agreement.

I know madam vice Chair, is gonna hold, us accountable to that on the definition of hazardous materials. We're working with the opposition on final language as the bill moves forward. I do wanna say thank you to Southern California Contractors Association for working with us. With that, madam Chair, and with your permission, I'll turn it over to Chris Snyder, the man, the myth, legend from operating insurance local three.

Thank you, Senator. Mister Snyder, you have two minutes for your witness testimony.

Thank you very much. Madam Chair and members, my name is Chris Snyder, and I'm the political director of the Operating Engineers Local 3. We represent thousands of skilled workers across California, primarily in the general engineering contractors. OE3 is a proud to support SB 1263. We've worked hard hand in hand with Senator McGuire over the years to protect homeowners, neighbors, and workers when they're at their most vulnerable, trying to clean up and rebuild after devastating natural disasters.

Our members have first hand experience responding to some of the California's most devastating disasters, including the Tubbs Fire in 2017 and the Carr Fire in 2018. And, I personally, witnessed 5,000 of my neighbors' homes burned to the ground. And I also saw the second disaster, which was, the cleanup. And it was a- it was a lot of tragic stories there.

And then the aftermath of those events, we saw an influx of these out of state contractors who were not held, to the same licensing, training, and safety standards that are required here in California.

Our state is- has some of the strongest contractor licensing and worker safety requirements in the nation. We are very proud of those standards. These laws and standards exist for a very important reason. Disaster sites are very dangerous. Environments often involving unstable structures, hazar- hazardous material, contaminated debris, and significant risks to workers and surrounding communities.

OE3- To OE3, this issue starts with worker safety. When properly trained and licensed contractors perform debris removal, workers are better protected from injury and exposure, and in turn, the workers are protecting and surrounding communities and the environment resources from further dangers. The Tubbs Fire, we actually saw our our local contractors in full hazmat suits and out of state contractors with nothing on in full dust wearing basically shirts and t shirt.

It was- It was crazy the- the difference just from site to site. Now this includes understanding on how to disturb- not to disturb unstable ground, how to properly handle contaminated materials, and how to keep debris and pollutants from entering the air and nearby waterways.

SB 1263 helps ensure that these- those performing specialized disaster debris and removal and cleanup work meet the qualifications that California already expects of contractors operating in these high risk environments. For this reason, Operating Engineers Local 3 respectfully request an aye vote on SB 1263. Thank you very much for your time on this long day.

Thank you, Mister Snyder. Awesome. Okay. Thank you for your testimony. Are there any other witnesses, in support of the bill?

Alright. Is there anyone who'd like to come forward to register their support? You can all come at the same time.

Are you here to speak in support?

I am.

Okay.

Good evening, Chair Ransom, members of the emergency management committee. I'm David Fogt. I'm the registrar for the Contractor State License Board. Protecting consumers filing following wildfire, any declared disaster is a top priority for CSLB, and we thank Senator McGuire for author- authoring this bill. This bill advances important public protection goals.

It ensures there are enough- enough qualified contractors available to perform hazardous debris removal. The bill expands a number of license classifications eligible to conduct hazardous removal to clear disaster areas, bringing the total to approximately a 135,000 licensed contractors. The bill will add an additional 5,585 contractors in Northern California rural counties that will be eligible to obtain the hazardous substance removal certification and perform hazardous debris removal in a declared disaster area.

The bill requires CSO licensed contractors to obtain the hazardous substance removal certificate and to meet HAZWOPER training requirements when all of the following conditions apply. Residential property has been damaged, destroyed, and declared disaster.

A CSLB contractor's license is required to perform the debris removal, and a permit is required from removal of debris that contain hazardous materials. This approach was proven very effective in Los Angeles County where they reported that the debris removal was generally was always successful because the contractors provided the necessary safety equipment for their workers. We appreciate your consideration of this important consumer protection measure.

Thank you, sir. Okay. With that, we're going to move to, opposition. Is there anyone, that any witnesses in opposition to this bill?

Thank you, madam chair. Todd Bloomstine representing the Southern California Contractors Association. We do have an opposed unless amended position on the bill. Our contractors are also, all union contractors. We employ, the Local 3, sister Local 12 in Southern California, as well as some members in Northern California.

Our position, we support the effort. We support the cause of the bill. A very nuanced problem to make sure that debris is actually hazardous material before the certification, before the HAZWOPER is determined or required. We're in agreement with the author. We've had conversations with his author staff on language.

We just need to do some wordsmithing, but conceptually, we've come to an agreement. So we will be removing our opposed and less amended position, and we'll likely go to a support position. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members. I am late. Matt Kremens, I'm actually in support, operating engineers. Thank you.

No worries. Alright. Is there anyone else who would like to add their opposition for the record? Well, lucky you. Alright.

Seeing none, we're gonna go ahead and bring it back to the members. I- I think Vice Chair Hadwick has questions.

I just wanted to tell you thank you for keeping your word. When I saw it in BNP, I was very hesitant to vote for it, but did knowing that you would work with opposition. And they they came and told me before that you were working with them, and they were in support. So thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Happy to support.

Thank you, Senator. So first of all, we- we also wanna thank you for working with opposition, and we know that you're still trying to finalize those details. I also wanna say the timeliness of this. I think it was mentioned the most recent fires.

What we're seeing with the electric vehicle, disposals has added a new level of concern regarding, public safety and even, you know, the public officials' safety. So it is important that folks understand that they are really in hazardous conditions. And so with that, we appreciate you bringing this bill. We have a first and a second. Right?

The first was Assemblyman Arambala. The second was Assemblywoman Calderon. And with that, we will give it to you for closing comments.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. To the committee staff, thank you. We'll respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you to the committee.

Awesome. Thank you. Secretary, please call the vote. The motion is do passed to the committee on appropriations.

SB 1263 McGuire. The motion is do passed to the committee on appropriations. [Roll Call].

We'll leave the roll open for the absent member.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you, committee. Alright.

Next up, we have Senator Archuleta with Senate Bill 804, regarding hydrogen pipeline safety. Alright. Senator, you may begin whenever you are ready, sir.

Well, thank you. Chair Ransom, thank you so very much. And Assembly Members, thank you for allowing us to share your house today at this long, long hour. And I thank you, honestly. I'm pleased to present Senate Bill 804, the Hydrogen Pipeline Safety Act. And would like to start by thanking the Chair and her staff, each and every one of you, who are working with this with me on this bill, and I accept the committee suggested amendments.

Members, as you know, and you can recall that this bill heard, was heard in this committee, last year and passed by bipartisan support. Following that hearing, my office worked extensively with the Governor's Office and Office of the the State Fire Marshal to incorporate the series of technical amendments.

Those amendments are reflected in the bill before you today and ensure that the Office of the State Fire Marshal has clear authority, appropriate enforcement tools, and a fee structure sufficient to administer the new program. Hydrogen is a key part of California's climate strategy, and we know that there are certain sectors of our economy where hydrogen will be essential to achieving our climate goals.

These include heavy duty transportation, ports, maritime shipping, aviation fuels, and other industrial manufacturing applications where electrification alone may not be sufficient. To support these issues and uses, hydrogen must be transported safely, effectively, whereas produced where it can and be needed, but safety first.

For large scale deployment, pipelines are widely recognized as the most efficient, lowest emission, and most cost effective method for transporting hydrogen. However, hydrogen presents a unique safety challenge. Hydrogen is the smallest molecule in existence. It can permeate material differently than natural gas, behaves differently under pressure, and requires specialized engineering and safety standards to minimize leakage and ensure safe operations.

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration recognized these unique characteristics and began work on hydrogen specific regulations. However, that effort has stalled. And today, hydrogen that effort has stalled. And today, hydrogen pipelines remain subject largely to regulations originally developed for other gases.

At the same time, California is actively investing in hydrogen production, fueling infrastructure, and industrial applications. In short, the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure is moving forward, but the development of hydrogen specific safety regulations is not. That creates uncertainty for the communities, regulators, and regulations, projects, developers alike.

Current California law does not clearly identify which state agency is responsible for regulating the safety of hydrogen pipelines. In fact, California Public Utilities Commission has acknowledged that its authority over hydrogen pipelines has not been clearly established. Senate Bill 804 closes that gap.

The bill designates the Office of the State Fire Marshal as a safety regulator and enforcement authority for ultra state hydrogen pipelines and directs the fire marshal to adapt hydrogen specific safety standards that reflect the unique characteristic of hydrogen. Importantly, this bill does not mandate construction of any hydrogen pipelines. It does not approve any projects. It does not create a hydrogen deployment program, and it does not circumvent environmental review or local permitting requirements.

What it does, it ensures that if hydrogen pipelines are built in California, they will be built and operated under the clear, consistent, and accountable safety framework administered by the state's recognized pipeline safety experts, which is a California state fire marshal. This is exactly the approach California has taken and other engineering and emergency industries. Establish the safety rules first, then allow deployment to proceed within the predictable regulatory framework. That is a good public policy.

Public safety, good for the environmental protection, and good for the responsible economic development. Most notably and importantly, it is much easier and less expensive to establish strong safety standards before infrastructure is built than it is to retrofit an entire system after deployment.

If California intends to be the leader in hydrogen, then California should also be a leader in hydrogen safety. Senate Bill 804 ensures that California is that safety leader. For these reasons, I respectfully ask for your aye vote. And here with me today to voice their support is Martin Vindiola on behalf of the California State Pipeline Trades Council, and Mike Monagan on behalf of the State Building and Construction Trade.

Thank you, Senator. I wanna just remind the witnesses that you'll have up to two minutes.

I'm sure we can do that. Madam Chair, Members. Mike Monagan on behalf of the State Building Trades. I'd like to thank the Senator's perseverance with this bill and for his leadership in hydrogen policy because hydrogen is gonna get us to the critical clean air goals that we are striving for. SB 804 creates a physical infrastructure that will create pipeline safety, which is critical for our workers. We ask an aye vote. Thank you.

Good evening, Chair Ransom and Members. Martin Vindiola on behalf of the California State Pipe Trades Council. We're pleased to support SB 804 and thank the Senator for his leadership on this issue. Hydrogen will play a critical role in California's clean energy future and will create many high quality pipe trades jobs in the years ahead. As the industry grows, it is essential that we have the strongest possible safety standards in place.

SB 804 ensures that the state fire marshal develops comprehensive regulations for hydrogen pipelines. These robust safety standards will help demonstrate to Californians that hydrogen can be used safely. Public confidence in this is essential to the successful deployment of this critical energy resource. For these reasons, we respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you so very much for your witnesses. Is there anyone else who'd like to add on in support of the bill?

Good evening. Kyra Ross on behalf of the City of Burbank in support of the bill. Thank you.

Thank you. Alright. Seeing no one else. Is there anyone who'd like to, I don't see any witnesses registered in opposition. Is there anyone who'd like to speak in opposition?

Hello. Ryan McCarthy on behalf of Air Products. We support the author's intent here to identify a role for the state fire marshal. We believe that is the correct agency to address hydrogen safety in the state. We have some lingering concerns. We very much appreciate the work of this committee, the previous committee, the collaborative approach of the author and his office. We hope to work through some remaining concerns and get to a support position on this, which we were previously prior to the most recent amendments. We look forward to continuing that work and that conversation with the author and the committee. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to add on in opposition? Seeing no one. I'm gonna bring it back to the committee. Are there any questions? Okay. Awesome. Then we can move forward. Is there a motion on this bill? Okay. Awesome. So we have a first and the second, Assemblyman Arambula and Assemblywoman Calderon. Senator, would you like to make any closing comments?

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. This bill simply ensures that as California grows its green economy, that we do it safely. And for these reasons, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you very much. Secretary, please call the vote. The motion is do pass as amended to the Committee on Appropriations.

SB 804, Archuleta. The motion is do pass as amended to the Committee on Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Awesome. Thank you. We'll keep the roll open for our one absent Member. Thank you. Okay. I'll I'll deal with that at the end. Yeah. Alright. Last up, we have...

SB 883. Senator Umberg regarding reactive chemicals, facilities, methyl and methyl chrylate. Senator, you may begin whenever you and your witnesses are ready.

Thank you, Chair Anselm and consultant Ryan Fleming for your help and work on this bill. Very important bill. As somebody may know that a catastrophe was averted just a a month ago in in Orange County. There was a tank that could have potentially exploded and but for a leak, which was fortuitous, that leak allowed the pressure to escape and, thus, the explosive radius of one kilometer was not experienced by the residents in Orange County.

It would have been perhaps the greatest catastrophe certainly in the last several decades in California.

That has alarmed a number of people, including folks who are in the area as you would expect, and thus, we've introduced SB 883. What it does is it deals with the chemical methyl methanocrylene. Thank you for your pronunciation, madam Chair. It's, not a regulated chemical under the US Environmental Protection Agency's risk management program or California's parallel system known as CALARP, leaving regulators with few tools to oversee its storage, SB 883.

What it does is it creates transparency surrounding high risk facilities, tightening emergency planning standards, improving cooperation during chemical emergencies, and giving communities better access to information about risk.

The bill will also improve California's capacity to identify facilities that hold chemicals that might cause thermal runaway reactions and ensure that enough safety precautions are in place to limit the possibility of catastrophic accidents. It's, of course, our duty to protect all the residents in California, and this, I think, does exactly that. One of the things that happened is that fifty thousand individuals were basically evacuated from their homes. Many stayed in shelters. Others found other places to house themselves.

But it was a not just a tremendous inconvenience, but a tremendous loss in terms of economic loss and and also folks lost some lost pets. It was it was quite an event quite an event. In addition to the other items to protect Californians, the bill also provides for any settlement that may ensue to be tax exempt for the residents that were evacuated.

And with that, I have Mai Do, who's come from Orange County with the Harbor Institute of Orange County and Asha Sharma with the Sierra Club. Thank you both for being here.

And your witnesses will have two minutes up to two minutes each.

Thank you, Chair and members. I'm doctor Mai Lin Do. I manage research and policy projects at the Harbor Institute for Immigrants and Economic Justice, and I'm here today to testify on behalf of my organization, which is based in Orange County. Just a few weeks ago, communities across Orange County had to evacuate due to the risk of explosion at the GKN aerospace manufacturing facility in Garden Grove.

Thousands of flammable methyl methacrylate or MMA have been stored for use at the GKN facility, which manufacturers f 35 transparency canopies.

And it turned out that GKN's MMA tank was overheating, and either the tank could crack and spill, or the tank could keep heating up to the point where it would explode due to a thermal runaway reaction. Now the GKN facility is next to a residential area and just down the street from an elementary school. As a result of the risk posed by GKN's failing MMA cooling system, 50,000 people were forced to evacuate and thousands of local small businesses lost revenue.

For several excruciatingly long days, our communities were burdened with uncertainty about our homes, our jobs, and our lives. This uncertainty has been especially acute among the many working class immigrants and refugee neighborhoods adjacent to the GKN facility.

And as this crisis has unfolded, residents continue to raise important questions about the GKN manufacturing facility that stores and uses MMA. Why it is that the facility gets to be so close to homes and schools, health facility with a long record of environmental and safety violations has been allowed to continue to quietly expand, why MMA storage isn't regulated more stringently, and what the status of the backup cooling system at GKN even was.

Our communities deserve to have these concerns addressed to help prevent this type of crisis from happening again, which is why we're here to urge your yes vote on SB 883. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair members. My name is Asha Sharma, deputy director of Sierra Club California, here today representing our organization and our more than half a million members and supporters across the state. The number of industrial disasters across California in the past month alone from the GKN aerospace manufacturing chemical leak to the warehouse fire in Tracy to the cold storage facility fire in Boyle Heights that released toxic chemicals and smoke into nearby communities points to the need for additional health and safety guardrails at industrial sites.

SB 883 is a common sense bill in response to the GKN aerospace manufacturing incident. The bill requires backup cooling systems,

usual environmental review process environmental review process for facilities storing reactive chemicals that have the potential to cause hazardous explosion and injury to nearby communities. Chiquin, as mentioned, had already been cited for multiple violations of environmental laws in the past, which were settled, and yet the facility still posed an extreme risk to nearby communities. Therefore, additional safeguards are clearly necessary to ensure that industrial facilities handling reactive chemicals, especially facilities surrounded by residential areas, do not harm human health and the environment.

public hearings, and the

safe distances from homes,

For these reasons, we strongly support SB 883 and thank the author for bringing this important bill forward. We urge your yes vote on SB 883.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator, and, thank you to the witnesses. Is there anyone else you'd like to add in support of the bill?

Hi there. Gabriel Tolson expressing support on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility at San Francisco Bay, Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, SF Baykeeper, Planning and Conservation League, Center for Race, Poverty, and Environment, and California Environmental Voters, and NRDC. Thank you.

Aniela Rocho, Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability in support. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any witnesses? I don't see any registered witnesses. Is there someone are you registered to speak in opposition?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Okay. Thank you for being here. You'll each have, up to two minutes. Please introduce yourselves, who you represent, and go ahead and start.

Thank you. Good evening, madam Chair, members of the committee. Tim Shestek with the American Chemistry Council. Appreciate the opportunity to testify, this evening. Though the particular facility, in question today is not one of our member companies.

We share and and recognize the seriousness of the issue and share the goal of the senators in preventing future accidents and supporting strong emergency preparedness. Advancing safety and sustainability in the communities where we operate is our top priority. The bill has been in print only for a few days, and I'm continuing to seek feedback from our our member companies. But we do have have identified some initial concerns that we offer to share with the center staff last week.

It was a productive conversation, and look forward to working with him further, as this bill moves to the process.

Some of the terms in the bill are currently undefined, such as reactive chemical storage facility, raises some questions as to the broad scope of other industrial sectors that may be impacted by this bill. Secondly, the bill mandates and statute a specific backup cooling system, be in place before a new building permit could be, approved. This type of safety measure may be appropriate for some types of reactive chemical hazards. Other safety measures may be more appropriate for other situations.

Third, the bill also eliminates an existing flexibility within the CalAr program that was mentioned earlier, making facility storing or using MMA ineligible for exemptions that are currently available under the program regardless of any facility specific risk or process design.

As I mentioned, we are opposed to the bill, but I wanna be an active constructive stakeholder as this bill moves to the process. Look forward to working with Senator Enberg and a proponents of the bill, over the course of the next couple of months. Thank you.

Great. Thank you, madam Chair, members. Dawn Koepke on behalf of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, the Chemical Industry Council of California, and the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance.

Also, in respectful opposition, CMTA, SEIB, and CICC, certainly, as, Mister Shostek mentioned, recognize, the incident and the impact it had on, the senators' district and communities, and certainly, you know, want to ensure, that safety is the utmost importance to each of the organization's members, who comply with a myriad of federal, state, and local regulations, permitting requirements, planning, and disclosure requirements.

All opposed to a b SB 883 in its current form, they are also working with their members to obtain constructive feedback on how to help address the concerns that led to the bill, while also balancing existing federal, state, and local frameworks, surrounding chemical management, safety, and release reporting.

We appreciate the intent of the author is to identify and close safety gaps within existing regulatory frameworks. However, the investigation is ongoing to determine the root cause of the incident. And as such, we would urge caution without certainty about where the issue may lie and what the result of the incident was. We certainly, you know, want to ensure that we're correcting for the co the, the actual issue at hand, whether that be a safety or regulatory gap.

Nevertheless, CMTA, CEB, and CICC appreciate the dialogue, that we too have had with the author's office thus far and look forward to working with the author and the policy committees ongoing to address some of the issues Mister Shestek mentioned, including key definitional scope and clarity, providing greater consistency with current regulatory permitting frameworks, including CALARP and HMBP, providing greater flexibility for facilities that may continue to operate in compliance with environmental and public health protections, and consider local land use planning decisions that have led to sensitive receptors in communities being placed up against long standing compliant industrial operators.

So for these reasons, although again, we are opposed currently, we do continue to have an interest in working with the author and the committee ongoing. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Is there anyone else who'd like to register opposition to the bill? Okay. Seeing no one, I'm gonna bring it back to the committee members for questions. No?

K. Well, I'll just kinda make a statement at this point. In our committee hearing, it's late for us to add amendments. We received opposition late. This the next step, if this is to pass today, would be to the environmental safety and toxic materials where you'll have an opportunity before their hearing to work with the Senator on valid concerns.

To the Senator, I wanna say, I think this is important to bring this as we're starting to see. Sometimes communities are built in places where things are already existing, and other times, folks just don't know what is being built in in regards to industrial storage facilities. And so I do think it's important that we have some some clarity and some provisions in place to overall protect our community.

And keeping in mind that there are a lot of well paying household jobs in some of these facilities, we still need to make sure that there's a balance between health and safety and economic So thank you for bringing this. Is there a motion?

I believe our we already had a motion. I was so sorry. So we have assemblyman just this we have the same old band. Assemblyman Aravla and Assemblywoman Calderon, there is a first and second. Are there any closing comments, Senator?

Thank you, madam Chair. I appreciate your comments. Five weeks ago, I didn't know what methyl methacrylate was. I couldn't pronounce it till two weeks ago. But I'm pleased that with the opposition, we're starting from the same place, the same place of concern, the same place of wanting to work together so that we address this.

Apparently, this is an issue that is well beyond Orange County, and we look forward to working for a solution in Orange County and beyond Orange County. And we look forward to working with both the supporters as well as the opposition to create a practical solution and practical transparency. With that urge, and I vote.

Awesome. Alright. Secretary, please call the vote. The motion is do passed to the committee on environmental safety and toxic materials.

SB 883, Umberg. Motion is do passed to the committee on environmental safety and toxic materials. Ransom? Aye. Ransom, aye.

Hedwick? No. Hedwick, no. Arambula?

Aye.

Arambula, Aye. Baines? Bennett? Aye. Bennett, Aye.

Calderon? Calderon, Aye. De Mayo? De Mayo, no.

Awesome. The bill is out. Thank you. Oh, I'm so sorry.

Thank you

so much for being here.

Is it three, two? It's not the bill is not out. So the four fifty

four days.

Because I I need to offer him Yeah.

I thought you said three.

Oh, okay. Gotcha. Alright. I was gonna have to ask call him back to see if he wants to offer Africans reconsideration. Alright.

Great job, Katie. I think we did. We do not we had our quorum. And with that

All the bills are out.

Yeah. All the bills are out.

All the bills are out, and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you.