Lieu Bill To Improve Reporting Of Sewage Spills Sent To Governor

Sacramento, CA – Late yesterday, the State Senate sent to the Governor Assembly Bill (AB) 800, a bill by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) to improve the reporting of sewage spills on public beaches.  The bipartisan vote was 24-11.

The bill clarifies that the entity responsible for a sewage spill has the duty to report it to the public health officer and the Office of Emergency Services.  It is important that the public health officer be notified because he or she is the only person who can close a beach and protect the public health.

A report released by the Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller earlier this year showed that hundreds of sewage spills in Los Angeles County since 2002 had never been reported.  These unreported spills represent over 8 million gallons of raw sewage that have affected many coastal areas of Los Angeles County.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable that these spills go unreported,” Lieu said. “The public needs to know immediately when there’s an urgent health risk, and the beach should be closed as soon as possible.”

AB 800 is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and has the support of Environment California, Heal the Bay, and Santa Monica Baykeeper.  It is joint-authored by Assemblymembers Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) and Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank).

Now that AB 800 has been approved by the State Senate, it will move to the Governor, who will have 30 days to act on it.

Assemblymember Lieu represents the 53rd Assembly District, which includes a long stretch of coastline from Torrance Beach in the South to Venice Beach in the North.