Bradley Entry Into Toxics Debate Stalls Compromise

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley injected himself into a raging debate between Gov. George Deukmejian and Democratic legislators over the creation of a new toxics cleanup agency on Wednesday and brought movement toward a compromise to an abrupt halt.

Bradley, a Democrat who is gearing up to run against Republican Deukmejian, made an unexpected appearance to testify before a two-house conference committee that had been called to come up with a solution to the cleanup agency dispute.

But Republicans balked at holding the hearing when they learned that the Los Angeles mayor would appear as a witness. With Republicans refusing to participate, any progress ground to a halt--at least temporarily--and the issue was put aside until tempers cool.

Assembly Democratic sources, who confirmed that the two sides are close to agreement on the issues, said they could have proceeded with the conference committee hearing over Republican objections but decided not to add to a growing political confrontation.

Torres Calls Meeting

Instead, Sen. Art Torres (D-South Pasadena), author of a Democratic proposal to create the new toxics cleanup agency, called a meeting of the Senate toxics committee that he chairs, and Bradley testified at that session.

None of the Republican members appeared at that meeting.

Even as Bradley was testifying, legislative Republican leaders held a press conference to denounce the presence of the mayor as a crude attempt to bring election campaign politics into one of the most bitterly fought issues facing the Legislature.

“It’s obviously a campaign stunt,” declared Assembly Republican Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale. “But it came at a point when things were about to jell.”

“What possibly does Mayor Bradley have to offer the committee except that he is an expert on sewage in Santa Monica Bay and the recipient of the largest fine in the history of the state Water Quality Control Board?” Nolan asked rhetorically.

He cited $180,000 in fines recently levied against the city of Los Angeles for failing to properly treat raw sewage that was released into the bay by the Hyperion treatment plant.

However, Torres and other Democrats insisted that it was entirely proper for the mayor of the state’s largest city to testify on an issue of major public importance.

Nolan and Senate GOP Leader James W. Nielsen of Rohnert Park claimed that Republicans and Democrats are close to resolving their differences over a new Department of Waste Management that Deukmejian first requested almost a year ago.

Fiercely Partisan

But the issue has become fiercely partisan as Democrats and Republicans jockey for the high ground in an election year.

Both sides in the debate agreed that there is a need for a new department that would consolidate enforcement of most of the state’s hazardous waste and water pollution laws under a single agency. But they have been unable to agree on how best to organize the new department and the proposed state Waste Commission that would oversee its operations.

Bradley, accompanied by Ali Webb, press secretary for his unannounced campaign, insisted to reporters that his appearance at the Capitol was intended to be “conciliatory.” Basically, he called for Deukmejian and the Legislature to settle their differences over the toxics issue which has raged for months.

But in a clear rhetorical poke at Deukmejian, Bradley noted that the governor already has “all the tools and resources he has needed to get the job done. But he apparently feels he needs more.”

Stresses Major Issue

In his testimony, he focused on the one major issue that still separates the governor’s toxics proposal from the Democratic plan--the need to apply strong conflict-of-interest rules for the appointment of the state waste commission, which would set cleanup policies and hear appeals of enforcement actions.

On that issue, Bradley backed Democrat Torres, whose bill would prohibit appointment of commissioners who have earned more than 10% of their incomes during the two previous years from industries they would now regulate. Similar rules now apply to members of the State Water Resources Control Board, which currently enforces water pollution laws.

Under the Deukmejian proposal, several members of the commission would be drawn from the regulated industries. But the commissioners would be barred from participating in decisions in which they had a direct financial interest.

Deukmejian and Democratic leaders have long been at odds over the issue of the new toxics agency. Last September they seemed to reach an agreement on a compromise proposal, which died in the closing hours of the 1985 legislative session when Republicans and Democrats could not reach agreement on an unrelated bill.