Groups to Draft Score Card for Environmental Bills

In an attempt to critique the toxics-control bills proliferating in Sacramento, a coalition of San Diego environmental groups joined dozens of others statewide Tuesday in announcing a “statement of principles” against which they plan to measure all future legislation.

The principles, hashed out over the last year by representatives of more than 100 organizations, stress cutting the amount of hazardous waste generated, expanding public access to information on chemicals, and ensuring that polluters are held liable for damage they cause.

Representatives said they hope that their principles will focus attention on the central issues involving toxics, at a time when, they said, bills are being introduced in an often haphazard, duplicative and inefficient fashion.

Some of the groups may also use the principles as a gauge of politicians’ commitment to the organizations’ environmental goals, and as an aid in deciding whom to support and whom to work against.

In San Diego, the principles received their first endorsement from City Councilman Mike Gotch, who appeared at a press conference sponsored by the Environmental Health Coalition. Gotch said he would ask the entire council within a month to endorse the guidelines.

The principles emphasize reducing the quantity of toxic chemicals generated, replacing them with safer substitutes, and rigorously testing potentially toxic chemicals in order to prove their safety before introducing them for use.

They also call for more economic, scientific and medical information about chemicals; stricter monitoring of their use and public exposure, and a commitment to study the health effects of exposure to toxic chemicals.

Finally, the groups want to abolish federal and state preemption of the rights of local authorities to regulate toxics. They want strict liability for polluters and a lighter burden of proof for people who claim to be victims of toxic exposure.

“Today we’re talking about a new blueprint, a new set of rules that we think all the government proposals need to be measured against,” said Diane Takvorian, executive director of the Environmental Health Coalition, which represents 25 environmental and health groups.

In San Diego, the groups announcing the principles included the Sierra Club, California Public Interest Research Group, and Escondido Neighbors Against Chemical Toxins, a group representing people who live near a toxic-waste dump.

Statewide, the coalition includes the Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Federated Firefighters of California, Consumers Union, Campaign for Economic Democracy, labor organizations, and individual politicians.

The coalition held press conferences Tuesday in five locations around the state. The groups intend to hold a statewide meeting in Los Angeles March 7 and 8, after which Takvorian said, they may develop their own proposals for toxics-control legislation.