AB 1647 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 – On Tuesday, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s (D-Torrance) Assembly Bill (AB) 1647 passed the Assembly Floor on a bipartisan vote. The bill will require refineries to install and maintain air quality monitors at the refinery fence line and in the community. It will also require that the governing air quality agency publicly report the readings from the monitors in real-time.
Under current law, there is no state-wide requirement for fence-line and community monitoring of most chemicals.
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 California refineries, 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. This bill is the direct result of my work with the community. As communities around the state become more concerned with air pollution, the state has a duty to identify and collect data to address these concerns.”
In addition to AB 1647, 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 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.
- Bill (AB) 1649, which codifies and makes permanent the existing Interagency Refinery Task Force created by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi represents California’s 66th Assembly District, which includes El Camino Village, Gardena, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance, and West Carson. He serves as Chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace. Muratsuchi is a member of the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Natural Resources, Utilities and Energy, and Veterans Affairs.