California State Senate To Vote On Landmark Clean Air Legislation Next Week

LOS ANGELES (May 25, 2006) On Thursday, May 25, the California State Senate Appropriations Committee voted to support the Children's Breathing Rights Act of 2006 (SB 1205, Escutia). Support from the Senate Appropriations committee allows the Children's Breathing Rights Act to move forward to the floor, where it will be voted upon by the Senate next week. BREATHE California of Los Angeles County, the region's leader on lung health and clean air initiatives, is the chief advocate for the legislation.

"I want to thank Enrique Chiock, CEO of BREATHE California of Los Angeles County and other BREATHE California staff who have worked tirelessly in their effort to advocate for the passage of the Children's Breathing Rights Act," said Senator Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk). "Breathing clean and healthy air is a right of all Californians, especially our children, whose health suffers disproportionately when our air is polluted."

SB 1205 proposes to increase penalty caps for violations of air pollution laws and give local air districts the ability to seek stiff new penalties from serious air polluters. A portion of fines and settlements obtained from the penalties will be directed to children's health initiatives in the district where the violation occurred. Funding can be used to improve asthma services in schools or add technology to school buildings that would improve the air California's children breathe.

"We are grateful to the Senators on the Appropriations Committee for supporting this important legislation," said Enrique Chiock, president and CEO of BREATHE California of Los Angeles County. "We call on all members of the State Senate to embrace SB 1205 as a means to help our children breathe easier in a state that has the worst air pollution in the nation."

The Children’s Breathing Rights Act of 2006 will create a much needed statewide internet database of major air polluters that would permit more uniform enforcement of air quality law and—for the first time—make it possible for the public to do a simple "track" of major polluters impacting their neighborhood right from their homes. The database information would also help Legislators set future state air pollution policy.

This important legislation comes on the heels of the U.S. EPA’s estimate that one in every 10,700 Los Angeles residents are at risk of contracting cancer from breathing L.A.’s dirty air and a University of Southern California study that says the number of deaths from breathing sooty smog in California may be more than twice as high as previously estimated.

Studies also show that asthma and other respiratory diseases rates are also increasing, affecting more than 2.3 million Californians, particularly children. In the last ten years alone, cases of asthma in California have increased by 60 percent and asthma has become the #1 cause of school absenteeism in Los Angeles.

Air pollution also affects California fiscally. The Institute for Economics and Environmental Studies at California State University, Fullerton recently issued a study that said smog in the San Joaquin Valley is responsible for $3.2 billion in health costs annually and that those costs can be saved by compliance with federal and state ozone and particulate standards.

The list of organizations supporting the Children's Breathing Rights Act continues to grow. The list now includes:

American Lung Association of California, Attorney General’s Office, BREATHE California of Los Angeles County, California District Attorneys Association, California Environmental Health & Justice Team of the Women’s Policy Institute, California Environmental Rights Alliance, California Medical Association, California Safe Schools, California Thoracic Society, Children's Health Environmental Coalition, Clean Power Campaign, Community Action to Fight Asthma, Environment California, Environmental Working Group, The Foundation for Early Childhood Education, Girl Scout Councils of California, Latino Issues Forum, Literacy for Environmental Justice, Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, Mexican American Opportunities Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, PHFE Management Solutions, Physicians for Social Responsibility–Los Angeles, Planning and Conservation League, Pueblo Y Salud, St. Mark AME Church, and Sierra Club–California.

SB 1205 is opposed by major air polluters and business groups.

For more information on the Children’s Breathing Rights Act, visit www.BreatheLA.org