Governor Signs Toxics Bills at the 11th Hour

With toxic waste cleanup a major issue in his reelection campaign, Gov. George Deukmejian signed key legislation at the eleventh hour to improve his record. But he vetoed other bills that his critics contended on Wednesday were crucial to protecting the public from hazardous pollution.

Deukmejian waited until just before the legal deadline of midnight Tuesday to sign two bills he had vetoed in previous years that will ban the dumping of untreated hazardous waste in landfills and allow establishment of local treatment centers and disposal sites despite community opposition.

Speeding Cleanup

But the Republican governor vetoed bills designed to speed cleanup of leaking underground storage tanks, provide toxics law enforcement training to local authorities, block incineration at sea of toxic chemicals and establish a state foundation to develop new cleanup technology.

Of five bills designed to protect Santa Monica Bay from pollution, Deukmejian signed three and vetoed two, including a measure that would have required government employees to publicly report the improper release of potentially hazardous chemicals.

Altogether in the final hours before the deadline, Deukmejian decided the fate of more than two dozen hazardous waste bills, signing about half of them and vetoing the others, including some proposals similar to recommendations by his own Task Force on Toxics, Waste and Technology.

The governor noted that some measures he vetoed would have been financed by his toxics bond measure that was blocked by the Legislature. Some of the bills he rejected were similar to elements of Proposition 65, an initiative to “Get Tough on Toxics” that is backed by environmentalists and his Democratic campaign rival, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, but opposed by the governor.

C. David Willis, deputy director of the Department of Health Services, insisted that “those bills that were vetoed were vetoed because they were either flawed or created another layer of bureaucracy. Looking at it overall, the (toxics) program is advanced over what it has been in the past.”

One of the most significant bills Deukmejian signed was a measure by Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) that will completely ban the dumping of untreated hazardous wastes in landfills by 1992. He vetoed a similar bill last year.

The governor also signed a related measure by Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte) designed to encourage the opening of new treatment centers and disposal sites for toxic wastes. The measure provides for the creation of temporary appeal boards that will have the power to overrule city or county officials who refuse to allow the placement of environmentally approved facilities within their jurisdictions. The governor had vetoed similar legislation twice before.

On the sensitive issue of Santa Monica Bay, Deukmejian signed three bills by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) that call for development of an ocean water quality plan, require that the state Water Resources Control Board be notified of toxic spills, and provide that sportfishermen be notified of potential toxic contamination of fish.

But he vetoed two tougher measures by Hayden that called for development of a statewide plan to deal with toxic contamination of ocean fish and would have imposed penalties on government officials who did not inform the public of toxic spills.

Deukmejian has tried to make Los Angeles city sewage spills in Santa Monica Bay an issue in his campaign for reelection against Bradley.

Hayden called Deukmejian an “environmental hypocrite” for vetoing the two bills and said, “While the governor is broadcasting in his political commercials how concerned he is about the Santa Monica Bay, he is vetoing the very two bills that could protect our ocean and improve our regulatory process.”

Underground Chemicals

Deukmejian also vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Byron D. Sher (D-Palo Alto) that was intended to accelerate the cleanup of leaking underground chemical tanks by clearly establishing state responsibility for the problem. It would also have allowed the state and regional water boards to enter into agreements with local governments to clean up leaking tanks.

In rejecting the measure, Deukmejian repeated his position that local governments, not state agencies, should be responsible for the cleanup of underground tanks.

Sher charged that Deukmejian’s action will stall the cleanup of more than 30,000 leaking tanks around the state, some of which already have contaminated drinking water, and force the closure of some wells.

‘Passing the Buck’

“He is bound and determined to pass the buck to local governments when it’s absolutely clear under state law that the responsibility for protecting ground water is with the state government,” Sher said.

Deukmejian, saying that the state could not afford the price tag, vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-Long Beach) that would have given $1.5 million to help train local prosecutors, police officers and health officials in how to better enforce toxic pollution laws. Such a proposal had been backed by his task force and was included in the governor’s proposed toxics bond issue, which the Legislature refused to pass.

And he vetoed two measures that would have blocked the incineration of toxic wastes at sea until a study of the practice could be completed. Deukmejian said the legislation and the study were unnecessary because he already opposes burning on the ocean.

Deukmejian vetoed another bill by Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) that would have created a foundation to develop new methods of disposing of hazardous chemicals. The governor said this would duplicate work already being done by the state.