Governor May Win on Toxics Control : Assembly Democrats Appear Ready to OK Consolidated Agency

Assembly Democrats, who in June defeated Gov. George Deukmejian’s plan to create a new department for monitoring and cleaning up hazardous wastes, now appear likely to give the governor what he has asked for in a second, rewritten proposal.

But before the Republican governor can claim to have turned a stunning political defeat into a legislative victory, he must still convince the Democrat-controlled Senate to go along with his proposal for a new department of waste management.

On Wednesday, one of the strongest critics of the governor’s first plan, Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte), said in an interview that she is hopeful that with the addition of some “clarifying language” the latest plan will win legislative approval and be placed on the governor’s desk.

The plan to consolidate enforcement of the state’s hazardous waste programs under a single department that would report directly to the governor has become one of the most bitterly fought battles of the legislative session.

Deukmejian made the proposal one of his top legislative priorities. He argued that the Legislature should give him the tools he needs to attack what many consider to be the biggest environmental issue of the 1980s--the need to contain hazardous wastes and to clean up existing dump sites that threaten neighborhoods and water supplies.

But Tanner and other critics charged that the first proposal was riddled with serious errors. The new plan has clearly addressed many of those complaints.

“I think it looks like a hell of a lot better plan,” said Tanner, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.

She scheduled a hearing on the proposal for next week.

Tanner’s willingness to work out differences with the governor is a sign that the Assembly, which defeated the first plan on a partisan 46-31 vote, is now likely to give Deukmejian much of what he has asked for.

“Sally speaks for the leadership,” said Gordon R. Cologne, a former Republican senator and expert on water affairs who was recruited by Deukmejian to negotiate with the legislators on the new plan. He said Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) told him, “If you make my chairman (Tanner) happy, then I’m happy.”

Widely respected as a co-author of the state’s landmark 1969 water cleanup act, Cologne is credited with correcting problems in the governor’s first proposal and convincing key legislators that they ought to give Deukmejian what he wants.

Among those who acknowledge Cologne’s influence is Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who is now generally supportive.

“I haven’t categorically signed off on it,” Roberti said. “But it is clearly a much improved plan.”

Roberti noted, however, that there are still differences of opinion among Senate Democrats. “I’m not going to try to force (my) opinion on them. I’m going to listen to what they have to say.”

And one key Democrat, Sen. Art Torres of South Pasadena, wants a major change in the governor’s proposal over an issue that Cologne described as “non-negotiable.”

Torres has his own bill that would put a waste management department, along with air and water pollution agencies, under the existing state Environmental Affairs Agency. His goal, he said, is to have a “tough agency that deals with all aspects of the environment--air, land and water.”

He has attacked the governor’s plan as dividing authority rather than centralizing it.

But Cologne argued that a new waste management department, headed by a strong director reporting to the governor, is the best way to make progress in cleaning up the state’s serious hazardous waste problems.

“We don’t want the director to be able to pass the buck,” Cologne said. “He’ll be out front. If he’s not doing a good job, the director and the governor will get the heat. If he’s doing a good job, the director and governor will get the credit.”

And he also said he has been telling legislative leaders that if they pass the governor’s plan “they can say they helped him. If they drop the ball, he can say they dropped it.”

Technically, the proposal submitted this month to the Legislature is a reorganization plan, which goes into effect in 60 days unless either the Senate or Assembly rejects it.

But Cologne conceded that the proposal could be challenged on constitutional grounds for several reasons. Therefore, he said, Deukmejian is asking that the measure be considered as a regular bill--requiring approval by both houses.