Gov. Signs Developer Liability Bill

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Thursday a bill that should lessen the financial and legal risk for developers who want to build housing on abandoned, inner-city industrial and commercial properties

The measure, AB 389 by Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez (D-San Fernando) and Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), limits liability for building on contaminated properties -- known as brownfields -- once a state environmental agency approves a cleanup plan.

Regulators would be allowed to order additional remediation only if pollution that threatens public health is found later.

“This is an enormous step forward toward creating the right incentives to invest in blighted properties and helps meet the state’s housing needs,” said Edward Manning, a lobbyist with the Home Ownership Advancement Foundation, an advocacy organization for 15 large California home builders.

The new law, though it won support from some environmentalists, is still being criticized by community activists for granting what they say are overly broad legal immunities.

“This guts the protection for the people living around” polluted sites, said Jane Williams, director of the California Communities Against Toxics in Rosamond.