Legislative Package to Hold Corporations Accountable Advances to the Governor’s Desk; Elected Leaders Call for a Signature

Legislative Package to Hold Corporations Accountable Advances to the Governor's Desk; Elected Leaders Call for a Signature

SACRAMENTO, CA - Earlier this month, in response to the devastation Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles endured due to the Lineage fire, Assemblymember Mark González, Senator María Elena Durazo, and Mayor Karen Bass introduced a legislative package to hold corporations, like Lineage, responsible and prevent similar crises from happening in the future. Last night, both bills passed the Legislature and headed to Governor Newsom's desk.

"I urge the Governor to sign this bold legislative package -- one that establishes a contingency plan with concrete resources and delivers greater justice for individuals impacted by environmental disasters," said Assemblymember Mark González. "AB 817 can't undo what has happened, but it can ensure that no community in California is left with the same unanswered questions."

"For months, families in Boyle Heights and East LA could not open their windows," said Senator María Elena Durazo. "They could not let their children play outside. They ran air purifiers around the clock, at their own expense, just to make their homes livable. The stench was too strong. It wasn't just inconvenient - it was negatively affecting their health. These are communities that have already carried more than their share of environmental harm. SB 716 exists because of what these families endured and to ensure companies act quickly to clean up, rather than drag their feet. Alongside AB 817, these bills work together to hold corporations accountable and support the families left to pick up the pieces. We need to ensure a crisis like this never happens again, and I urge Governor Newsom to sign both SB 716 and AB 817."

AB 817 will ensure that Lineage cannot rebuild without being accountable to the local community. Specifically, this bill will:

1. Prevent the city and county from issuing a new building permit for cold storage facilities like Lineage, unless they maintain a contingency fund that can be accessed in states of emergency. This fund will exist to ensure substantial funding will be available for food assistance, housing assistance, air quality monitoring, environmental cleanup, and remediation of any hazardous materials.
2. Ensure any settlements that residents get from this incident are tax-free. That money is not income. It is compensation for suffering. They have been through enough - they shouldn't have to worry about paying state taxes on money that is rightfully owed to them.

SB 716 raises the ceiling on city and county ordinance fines for large non-residential structures so that penalties scale with the severity of the violation. The current cap of $2,000 per day, regardless of the scope of the harm, is not sufficient to propel action. An escalating structure and the ability to multiply fines by a factor of 10, up to $50,000 per violation, gives locals meaningful leverage to compel rapid remediation.

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Assemblymember Mark González is the Assembly Majority Whip. He serves on the Committees on Appropriations, Health, Public Safety, Rules, and Utilities & Energy. He represents the 54th District, composed of the cities of Los Angeles, Commerce, Montebello, and Vernon.

Senator María Elena Durazo represents the 26th Senate District which includes Central Los Angeles, Northeast Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, and the City of Vernon.