Downey, CA– Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia has often been characterized as an elected official who “tends to gravitate to issues that not a lot of people take on, where there’s no special interest or corporate sponsor.” This has been most evident in her role as Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and her commitment to take on issues of environmental justice.
Growing up in Bell Gardens, Assemblywoman Garcia understands firsthand the health and quality of life challenges California’s underserved and underrepresented communities face because of toxic pollutants they live with. In her role as Natural Resources Chair, Assemblywoman Garcia has injected justice for those communities in discussions surrounding air quality, water quality, renewable energy, industrial pollution, and climate change.
In 2015, Assemblywoman Garcia vigorously took on the Governor and California Department of Toxic Substances Control to start to bring justice to the residents who lived close to the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon. She was instrumental in getting the Governor to increase the cleanup funds from an initial $8 million to an allocation of over $176 million. In addition, she authored AB 2153 that was signed into law and fundamentally changes the way recycling fees for car batteries are collected and used for the cleanup of communities harmed for decades by lead battery contamination.
“The contamination by the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant was a clear example of the disregard for the health and well-being of entire communities in California. The community was rightfully angry and frustrated by the initial lack of response. It is important that elected officials stand up and demand better protections and accountability from those entrusted to protect our environment” said Assemblywoman Garcia
Assemblywoman Garcia has continued her work to establish an even playing field for all communities as California implements its watershed cap-and-trade structure. Her legislation AB 617 signed into law by Governor Brown identified and creates concrete action plans to clean up California’s most polluted neighborhoods.
Says Assemblywoman Garcia, “So many communities across California have been treated like wastelands for so long it was a moral imperative to clean them up. Now we can begin to reduce pollution related respiratory, auto immune, and cardiovascular diseases and disorders associated with toxic pollutants.”
The following is Assemblywoman Garcia’s environmental justice signed into law by Governor Brown:
2015-16
AB 2153 – Battery Recycling Fee/Exide Clean Up
In response to the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant contamination, AB 2153 reallocates a fee already imposed on all car batteries to fund the cleanup of contamination caused by lead acid batteries throughout the state. This measure will bring relief to these affected communities and ensure solutions to a major long-term problem.
2017-18
AB 617 – Clean Air Protection For All Communities
Establishes a comprehensive, statewide program – the first of its kind – to address air pollution where it matters most: in neighborhoods with the dirtiest air. This new program helps dramatically improve air quality in local communities through neighborhood air monitoring and targeted action plans that require pollution reductions from mobile and stationary sources with strong enforcement and timetables. The legislation also mandates that large industrial facilities, including oil refineries, in California’s most polluted communities upgrade their old, dirty equipment with cleaner, more modern technology by December 2023 at the latest. The legislation also increases the penalties against polluters that the Legislature has not been able to increase in more than 35 years.
AB 1132 – Clean Air Protections For All Communities
Allows Air Quality Management District’s (AQMD’s) to issue to facilities temporary orders and require them to cease those operations that are in violation of either federal or state air quality requirements through a notification to the violator outlining a pending hearing within a set timeframe and process. The order could be rescinded prior to the hearing, which must be set within 15 days of the abatement notification and be held no more than 30 days from issuance, if the accused operator can demonstrate the endangerment situation no longer exists and has been permanently corrected.
“I am proud of the work my office has done in the area of environmental justice. For far too long, our communities have been forced to choose between dirty jobs and the health of their community. I have a different vision for the future–a vision rooted in well-paying clean jobs and healthy neighborhoods endowed with clean air, clean water, and open spaces,” concluded Assemblywoman Garcia.
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