Gov. Newsom vetoes oil refinery air pollution bill

Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have tightened air pollution monitoring around California oil refineries.

The bill , introduced by State Sen. Lena Gonzalez of Long Beach, would have updated air monitoring protocols for “fence-line zones” around the perimeter of oil refineries. It would have required those sites to keep detailed air quality records for at least five years that would be subject to outside audits.

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In his veto message, Newsom stated that the changes might require state funding and said that local air quality management districts are already “carrying out the necessary actions” to monitor pollution.

Gonzalez slammed the veto as a “devastating blow to the years of hard work and advocacy by communities affected by refinery air pollution.”

“Fenceline communities urgently need improved air monitoring, and it shouldn’t be this difficult to establish a system that provides them with the most basic necessities—transparency and information about the toxic chemicals being released into their neighborhoods,” she said in a statement.

According to Streetsblog , all of California’s 19 refineries are located in counties that get failing grades for particulate matter pollution. On average, the communities located within five miles of refineries are more than 70% people of color.

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