Berman Won’t Push Bill for Land Exchange This Year

A San Fernando Valley congressman said Thursday that he will not file legislation this year setting conditions for a land exchange that would trigger development of a huge public trash dump on federal land in Elsmere Canyon.

Although he may introduce the bill next year, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) said in an interview that too little time remains before congressional adjournment Oct. 1 “to do what is needed to be done to try to steer this kind of a measure through both houses of Congress this year.”

The U. S. Forest Service has been asked to surrender 1,600 acres in Elsmere Canyon for the landfill. In exchange, the city and county of Los Angeles, which would operate the dump, would have to provide the Angeles National Forest with other lands of equal or greater market and natural resource value.

The exchange could be done administratively by the agencies involved or by an act of Congress. Berman has said legislation could require dump developers to pledge more health and environmental protections than under an administrative trade.

Berman has said a bill might contain guarantees that canyons in the Santa Monica Mountains will never become dumps and that Elsmere will not pollute ground-water supplies.

Other proposed provisions would require that a fund be created from dump fees to buy parkland and strengthen recycling in the city of Los Angeles.

“Remember, they want national forest land for a landfill,” Berman said, referring to the city of Los Angeles. “They need the federal government one way or another on this.”

But Elsmere opponents, including Santa Clarita city officials, have attacked the proposed bill, saying it would merely improve chances of destroying a beautiful canyon.

Berman “has just fallen into the trap of trying to facilitate something that’s totally inappropriate,” Santa Clarita Mayor Jill Klajic said.

Abandoning the bill “was a smart move on Mr. Berman’s part,” she said.

Berman said opposition to the dump was not behind his decision to hold off on the bill.