California Senate Passes Legislative Package Protecting the Tijuana River Watershed
SACRAMENTO – This week the California Senate passed Senate Bills 10 and 594, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). SB 10 would expressly authorize funds from the new toll road to be used for water treatment, environmental mitigation, and restoration of the Tijuana River Valley and SB 594 would give communities across the state with existing environmental pollution burdens the opportunity to voice their concerns in a publicly noticed hearing when a new landfill development is proposed as is the case in the River Valley.
This year, the Tijuana River was named in the 2nd most endangered rivers in America, a list managed by environmental organization, American Rivers. The designation comes from an analysis of the hazardous industrial waste and raw sewage present in the river.
A recent UC San Diego study confirmed that pollutants are being aerosolized by wave motion, sending contaminants airborne, further endangering communities. The study even found that methamphetamine in water at Imperial Beach at levels that other studies have shown are high enough for fish to develop an addiction and suffer withdrawal symptoms.
However, this is not the only source of pollution that the South Bay faces. Over 15 years ago, private developers put a misleading measure on the ballot in San Diego County and secured the approval of a second landfill in the county’s general plan – cutting out local elected officials and creating a truncated CEQA process that silenced local input and review. The landfill would be built less than 2 miles from the Tijuana River, squarely in the River’s already severely environmentally distressed watershed.
“The crisis at the Tijuana River comes from decades of neglect and congressional inaction – poisoning families for too long, even tainting the very air we breathe,” said Senator Padilla. “We must explore every source of funding and every option available to us to finally put an end to this crisis and protect our community from further environmental injustice. The last thing we need is for a billionaire jamming an unnecessary landfill into one of the most polluted watersheds in the country with literally no public input.”
SB 10 would expressly authorize funds from the new toll road to be used to assist in the maintenance of the South Bay International Boundary and Water Commission sewage treatment facility and the development of additional sanitation infrastructure projects related to the Tijuana River pursuant to an agreement with the federal government. By providing a portion of the proceeds made from this border crossing to help rectify the worsening crisis in the Tijuana River Valley, we can ensure that there is an ongoing revenue stream available to finally begin overdue environmental mitigation of cross-border trade and manufacturing.
SB 594 would require local enforcement agencies hold a publicly noticed hearing when a new Class III landfill is proposed to be built in an area with a pollution burden score in the 90th percentile as determined by the California Communities Environmental Screening. The will would also require that a state agency not issue a waste discharge permit for such a landfill until a local enforcement agency has certified that the landfill will not disproportionately impact or harm the environmentally sensitive community.
To read more about Senator Padilla’s Tijuana River Pollution Legislative Package and the environmental challenges facing communities in Southern San Diego, click here.
SB 10 passed by a vote of 29 to 10 and SB 594 passed by a vote of 27 to 9. Both bills now head to the Assembly.
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Steve Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, the Coachella Valley, Imperial Beach, the Imperial Valley, National City, and San Diego. Prior to his election to the Senate in 2022, Senator Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino Mayor, and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office. Website of Senator Steve Padilla: https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/