News

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Entertainment Software Association Press Release

WASHINGTON — APRIL 17, 2018 — The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents the US video game industry, today applauded California Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) for his leadership in taking steps to empower consumers and parents alike to make informed purchasing decisions.

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Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Daily Republic, Todd R. Hansen

FAIRFIELD — Perhaps the last thing on anyone’s mind on a rainy Monday morning was the threat of mosquitoes.

However, according to the state Department of Public Health, “there has been a steep rise in detections of invasive mosquito populations in California . . . which increases the risk of local transmission of imported diseases.”

April 15-22 is Mosquito Awareness Week.

The end of the recent drought and the lifting of water restrictions also mean the return of water practices that create more mosquito habitat, the state agency reports.

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Sunday, March 25, 2018

Paul Rogers, The Mercury News

In a campaign that critics are calling one of the most brazen examples in recent years of corporations trying to saddle taxpayers with the bill for cleaning up pollution, three large paint companies are sponsoring a $2 billion statewide ballot measure to clean up lead paint contamination that courts have ruled is the manufacturers’ responsibility.

In January, the companies invested $6 million to fund the measure, which they call the “Healthy Homes and Schools Act.” If approved by voters in November, it would declare that lead paint, which was banned for consumer uses in 1978 and causes brain damage and other physical problems in children and pregnant women, is no longer a public nuisance under California law, and the companies are not liable for cleanup costs.

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

California Democrats say they're introducing legislation to hold chemical companies accountable for fixing the harms of lead paint.

Jonathan J Cooper, Associated News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Democrats said Thursday they're introducing legislation to hold chemical companies accountable for fixing the harms of lead paint as manufacturers try to get a measure on the ballot to make taxpayers cover the costs.

The legislation is the latest shot in a growing battle since court rulings declared lead paint to be a public nuisance and required three companies to pay for cleanup.

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times

A group of state lawmakers announced legislation Thursday to fight a proposed November ballot measure that would allow three national paint companies to hand California taxpayers the bill for cleaning up hazardous lead paint in homes.

The six bills, introduced by Democratic members of the Assembly from across the state, would add legal protections for homeowners with lead paint in their residences, increase the number of lead paint inspectors and make it easier to sue the companies, among other proposals.

"For too long, paint companies have been able to dodge responsibility for their actions," said Assemblyman Rob Bonta of Alameda at a Thursday news conference.

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle

Lawmakers in Sacramento are proposing to preempt a plan by paint manufacturers to ask taxpayers to pay for hazardous lead-based paint removal from older homes in California through a voter-approved $2 billion bond.

Legislation announced Thursday includes a bill that — if the companies’ initiative passes in November — would add a fee to all paint sales in California, with the money going to a fund for residents to clean up any paint containing lead in their homes. The fee would not repeal the taxpayer-funded bond but would eliminate the need to use its proceeds for the cleanup.

The paint-makers are circulating the initiative to counter a state appeals court ruling in November that found three companies — ConAgra, NL Industries and Sherwin-Williams — responsible for cleanup costs because they had marketed lead-based paint for decades while knowing it was dangerous to children.

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Jamie Drake, The Enterprise

Chances are, if you like to fish or hunt, you’re carrying around a fair amount of lead in your ammo or tackle box. But that might change over the next few years.

Former President Barack Obama and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service already tried to outlaw lead for ammo and fishing tackle. On his last day in office, President Obama proposed a basically symbolic ban to be implemented by 2022 on all federal lands. President Donald Trump’s administration quashed that directive almost immediately. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reversed the ban on his first full day in office.

Still, the winds are a-changing.

Already lead shot for waterfowl hunting has been banned in the United States for more than 20 years. But the scope might be widening.

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