A New Antitoxin

There is something average Californians can do about toxic pollutants. They should encourage legislators in Sacramento to pass a bill that would help companies use fewer hazardous substances in manufacturing. The measure, AB 1430, sponsored by Assembly members Delaine Eastin (D-Union City) and John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), would establish a toxics-use reduction institute that would conduct research, circulate its findings among companies that use toxics and train people in methods to reduce toxics use.

In addition to its fundamental mission of research, the institute would help companies learn about other firms’ success stories, just as the agricultural extension service helps farmers learn new methods. One way the institute will be exploring involves encouraging companies to switch materials they use in the manufacturing process. For example, a Tennessee company that makes gift-wrap paper converted from ink made from organic solvents to water-based inks, meaning it could use less toxic cleaning solutions.

Other users of toxic substances have changed their method of operation. Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, now strips paint from aircraft with sandblasting equipment instead of chemical solvents. And some companies have found that better housekeeping also can reduce toxic leaks or evaporation.

The institute may be based at San Jose State University because of intense concern about toxics in the Silicon Valley electronics manufacturing area. The initial cost is estimated at $1.5 million annually. It would be financed from the unitary tax fund, paid to the state by multinational companies as part of a compromise aimed at reducing revenue loss. Politically, that may be the only feasible way to start the institute, but ultimately it probably should be financed by a tax on manufacturers that produce the toxic substances.

Legislation setting up this vital institute has passed the Assembly Toxics Committee and comes up early next week in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. The best way to reduce the3 million tons of toxic waste that California generates each year is to develop technology that creates less of that waste in the first place. This bill would help reach that goal.