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Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s Assembly Bill (AB) 1649 passes out of Assembly’s Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (ESTM) Committee on a 6-0 vote

For immediate release:

AB 1649 part of Assemblymember Muratsuchi’s “California Refinery Jobs and Safety Action Plan,” which includes five Assembly bills to improve public safety at all California refineries

Torrance, CA – In a 6-0 bipartisan vote, the Assembly Committee on the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (ESTM) passed Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s (D-Torrance) Assembly Bill (AB) 1649, which codifies and makes permanent the existing Interagency Refinery Task Force created by Governor Jerry Brown.

The bill is part of the California Refinery Jobs and Safety Action Plan, which includes five Assembly bills that will improve public safety at all California refineries.

“The Torrance Refinery, and all refineries across California, must make public safety their number one priority,” stated Muratsuchi.  “When the refinery exploded in Torrance two years ago, my wife, daughter and I lived just a few miles away.  Since then, I have worked with local residents to develop a six-point Torrance Refinery Safety Plan.  Now, I am introducing a legislative bill package to carry out my plan.”

In addition to AB 1649, Assemblymember Muratsuchi’s “California Refinery Jobs and Safety Action Plan” includes the following important Assembly Bills:

  • AB 1645 will phase out the use of hydrofluoric acid by California refineries. 
  • AB 1646 will require the maintenance of a publicly accessible community alert plan which includes notification to residents for emergencies (reverse 911, text, email, PSAs, etc.) and public alerts (alarms, sirens, etc.).  How far that notification has to be heard, ways by which the community must be notified, and a number of other community alarms will be included.  
  • AB 1647 will require refineries to install and maintain air quality monitors at the refinery fence line and in the community, and require that the governing air quality agency publicly report the readings from the monitors in real-time. 
  • AB 1648 will increase the number of state refinery inspectors at the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal OSHA).  A budget request has been made in conjunction with this bill.