Senate Panel Passes Lieu Bill Giving South Bay Cities A Voice On The South Coast Air Board

SACRAMENTO – The California Senate Local Government Committee today passed AB 2015 by Assemblymember Lieu, which will increase the number of seats on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board (SCAQMD) from twelve to thirteen, in order to give cities in the South Bay and West Los Angeles County a chance at a seat at the table.

“AB 2015 will allow our communities to play a greater role in improving one of our most precious natural resources, namely, clean air,” said Assemblymember Lieu. “By allotting additional representation to local cities, we can more accurately and effectively meet the needs of all of Southern California’s residents.”

The SCAQMD Board has jurisdiction over the following four counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. The SCAQMD seeks to ensure that all communities are progressing toward meeting clean air standards and protecting public health.

Under current law, LA County has three seats on the AQMD Board: one for a county supervisor, one for the cities on the Western Sector of the County, and one for the Eastern Sector. Due to the manner in which the current law is written, the City of Los Angeles is considered a “Western Sector” City. Since the population of the City of Los Angeles is almost double the combined population of the other 24 cities, the seat is, de facto, a City of Los Angeles seat.

AB 2015 creates a fourth seat in LA County, reserved for the City of LA. This gives the nation's second-largest city a permanent seat and frees up the Western LA County seat for the independent cities in the Westside and South Bay.

“AB 2015 will give many smaller cities the opportunity for direct representation on the AQMD to better represent significant air quality issues and polluters in the Western Sector of LA County,” said Lieu.

AB 2015 will now be sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it will be heard in the following weeks.