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Assemblymember Mike Feuer
In The News |
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Los Angeles
Times Editorial
Name your
poisonSeptember 4, 2007
State lawmakers have churned out proposals in
recent years to ban individual toxic substances, but this
scattershot approach has been largely ineffective. Now, the
state Senate is poised to take up an ambitious bill by
Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) that would establish a
comprehensive program cataloging the potentially hazardous
chemicals used by California companies. The point is to shift
the focus from controlling pollution -- that is, regulating
how chemicals are disposed of or emitted -- to preventing it
by reducing the use of hazardous materials.
This
sensible approach is modeled after a toxics-reduction measure
adopted by Massachusetts in 1989 that actually saved companies
millions of dollars more than it cost them to comply. Feuer's
bill would require the state Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment to compile a list of monitored toxics and
create a database on their health effects. Large users of
those chemicals would have to report what they used and how
much, as well as submitting plans for using less.
The
Schwarzenegger administration has a broad "green chemistry"
initiative too, launched two months after Feuer introduced his
bill. Its goal is to assess existing toxics programs and
recommend options for measuring the health and environmental
effects of not just the chemicals used in products, but their
potential substitutes. A coalition of manufacturers and
chemical companies backs the governor's effort and opposes
Feuer's. Even though there is some overlap between the two
efforts, they're actually complementary. Together, they would
build a solid scientific and medical foundation for more
aggressive efforts to reduce industry's reliance on toxic
chemicals. More important, Feuer's bill, like Massachusetts'
effort, can help build the market for less-toxic chemicals and
manufacturing techniques. It deserves the governor's
support.
Originally published in the Los Angeles
Times. |
| Office of Assemblymember Mike
Feuer
9200 Sunset Blvd., PH 15 West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 285-5490 or (818)
902-0521 | |
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