Governor Signs Bill for More Air Tankers

Gov. George Deukmejian has signed legislation to add five air tankers to the state’s fleet of firefighting aircraft, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.

Deukmejian also signed legislation giving Alameda County $4 million to speed prosecution of drug-related crimes and to eliminate a backlog of more than 450 such cases.

The bills were among 82 signed by the governor as he clears his desk of legislation and prepares for a vacation next week.

The emergency air tankers bill provides $1.5 million for the leasing of the equipment for the duration of the fire season. It was introduced by Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) after air tankers took more than four hours to reach the June 30 fire in San Diego that destroyed 64 houses, an aide to the assemblywoman said.

Officials expect this year’s fire season to be one of the worst in years because of extremely dry weather last winter.

Killea’s bill will increase the fleet of air tankers from 21 to 26. The new planes, which can carry about 2,000 gallons of fire retardant each, have more than twice the capacity of most planes now in use, although they are less maneuverable, according to Cotton Mason, senior air operations officer for the California Department of Forestry.

Two of the new tankers are to be stationed at Paso Robles, one at Ramona in San Diego County, one in Stockton and one in Santa Rosa, Mason said. “That will give us coverage where we’re light.”

Deukmejian also signed an emergency measure by Assemblyman Elihu Harris (D-Oakland) designed to accelerate the prosecution of accused drug dealers in Alameda County who allegedly are continuing their criminal activity while awaiting trial.

Under Harris’ bill, the state will give the county $4 million over two years to hire a 45-member task force of prosecutors, public defenders and criminologists to eliminate the backlog of 450 pending cases.

The measure stemmed from community protests in the Oakland area over dramatic increases in drug trafficking, said Amy Dean, an aide to Harris.

“Ours is a prosecution problem, not an enforcement problem,” she said. “The court system has not been able to deal with the volume.”

Another bill signed by Deukmejian will require the licensing of individuals and businesses that dispose of the remains of cremated corpses.

The bill, by Assemblyman Norman Waters (D-Plymouth), was prompted by a case in Amador County in which a man hired to disperse ashes from an airplane instead had dumped them on his property. He was later convicted of commingling the ashes of hundreds of people.

Under the measure, the disposal of human ashes will be regulated by the state Cemetery Board.

And in a footnote to the Los Angeles-to-San Diego bullet train controversy, Deukmejian signed a bill to restore a requirement that such high-speed rail projects must go through the state’s normal environmental review process. Proponents of the now abandoned project, who had won legislative exemption from such review, dropped their plan as a result of insufficient financial backing and protests from residents along the proposed route.

The newly signed measure, by Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas), would subject any future high-speed rail projects along the corridor to the usual environmental review process.

The governor also signed a bill by Assemblyman Robert J. Campbell (D-Richmond) that will require gasoline stations to post prominent signs informing handicapped drivers that they are entitled to service at the self-service rates.