(Sacramento, CA) – Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), joint author of Assembly Bill 617, a landmark air quality measure, applauded its late night passage in the Legislature this evening.
“For too long, landlocked, freeway-locked communities near heavy industry like mine have been ignored during major environmental movements in California,” said Assemblymember Santiago. “This is an issue that hits close to home for me (and many other inner city legislators). My young son, who is being raised in these neighborhoods, unfortunately has asthma. I’m proud to be an author of AB 617 to ensure that future generations of Angelenos have the ability to breathe when they step out of their homes.”
AB 617 is a companion measure to Assembly Bill 398, authored by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella, also jointly authored by Assemblymember Santiago), which reforms and extends California’s influential Cap and Trade Program until 2030. Specifically, AB 617 accomplishes the following:
- Directs local air districts to develop and implement plans for communities that have high cumulative emissions burdens to achieve reductions from both mobile and stationary sources;
- Each plan will be required to have reduction targets, specific reduction measures, and an implementation schedule;
- Requires industrial emitters to retrofit their emissions equipment to a standard that is reflective of current advancements in technology;
- Adjusts pollution penalties (that haven’t been amended since the 1970s) to keep pace with inflation; and
- Creates uniformity across California in terms of reporting, verification, and technology standards for air quality.
Assemblymember Santiago added, “I am proud of Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia and Eduardo Garcia for leading the charge on these important measures. Together, with the Governor and our colleagues in the Senate, we are securing environmental health and clean air for our children – despite efforts by Congress and the Trump Administration.”
Since his election to the California State Assembly in 2014, Assemblymember Santiago has prioritized improving the environmental and public health of inner cities – especially those that have been long neglected in his district. He has been a consistent voice in the fight to both shutter the Exide Technologies factory in Vernon and to extract reparations from the facility’s parent company for the pervasive and negligent contamination of its neighboring communities. He authored Assembly Bill 118 last year to appropriate $176.6 million for the clean-up of high priority homes surrounding Exide – to date, California’s largest ever residential response to industrial contamination.
AB 617 passed the California State Assembly this evening by a vote of 50-23. Its companion, AB 398 also passed by a vote of 55-21. Both will now head to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is the Chair of the Assembly’s Communications and Conveyance Committee, and a member of both the Assembly Public Safety Committee and the California Latino Legislative Caucus. He represents the 53rd District composed of the cities of Los Angeles, Huntington Park, and Vernon.