California
Clean Water Action Joins more than 35 Environmental and Environmental Justice Groups to Denounce the Governor's Proposed Water Bond
Clean Water Action joined environmental leaders and community activists throughout California on Tuesday, August 11, to announce their strong opposition to the Governor's proposed $9.3 billion water bond. At four simultaneous press conferences held around the state advocates repeated their concern about the misplaced priorities of the proposed bonds, its failure to address California's real water problems, and the impact the repaying the bond will have on schools, medical care and other critical services provided by the state.
"We've been working for years to ensure that our water system returns water to the environment and diversifies our local supply in a responsible manner," said Clean Water Policy Analyst Jennifer Clary. "This bond doesn't reflect those priorities."
Sign the petition now or learn more.
Ask The State Water Control Board for a Strong Plan on PCBs in San Francisco Bay
Reducing Mercury in the Central Valley
The Central Valley Regional Water Board will decide on adopting a draft cleanup plan, known as a TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load), this summer to address mercury pollution in the Delta.
The proposed plan has both positive and negative features and we need your help to ensure that we keep the beneficial aspects and correct the flaws.
Please use our sample letter and write to the Central Valley Regional Board to support the methylmercury focus of the clean up plan and to urge them to set clean up goals that are in line with actual fishing practices in the Delta and to do away with the 8-year delay currently in the plan.
Later this year the State Water Board will be asked to approve a plan that the San Francisco Regional Water Board has put forward to address contamination in the Bay by PCBs, industrial chemicals banned in the 1970s because of their impacts on human health and the environment.
The plan is deeply flawed, lacks necessary detail to ensure actual clean up, and doesn't adequately hold responsible parties accountable for reducing the amount of PCBs still contaminating land sites and flowing into the Bay every year.
We need your help to make sure that the state does not approve the plan until it is strengthened.
In 2005, Clean Water Action faced a similar problem with the Regional Board's proposed plan to clean up mercury in the Bay. With the support of our members, 2,500 of whom signed onto a letter calling for stronger pollution prevention actions in the plan, we succeeded in getting the State Board to reject the plan and return it to the Regional Board with specific guidelines on how to strengthen it.
The result was a much stronger plan which was accepted by both the State and federal EPA in 2007 and that included most of the features we had advocated for
Our goal is to get at least the same number of signatures this time for the proposed PCBs plan.
Please sign on to the letter and ask the State Water Resources Control Board for a strong plan on PCBs in San Francisco Bay!
Don't Divert More Water From The Tuolumne River
The Tuolumne River, which provides 85% of the drinking water for 2.4 million San Francisco Bay area residents, is a natural wonder, offering recreational opportunities, supporting a diverse biological community, and providing fresh water flows to the San Joaquin River and the Delta.
However, like most California rivers, the Tuolumne is in crisis. Sixty percent of the river’s natural flow is diverted for urban and agricultural uses, and several fish species are in decline.
Unfortunately, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) wants to increase diversions from this scenic river.
Take Action: Sign a petition to oppose more diversions from the Tuolumne and to help the Bay Area become a leader in the sustainability of its resources.
Safer Chemicals in California
Did you know that there are approximately 80,000 chemicals in commercial use but that for most of them, we have done little or no testing for their potential health or environmental impacts? As a result our household cleaners, garden chemicals and pesticides, personal care products, computers, clothes, food, and even our beds may contain chemicals about which we have little safety information.
While not all chemicals are harmful and many provide important benefits, there is growing evidence linking chemical exposures over time to health impacts such as cancer, reproductive problems, neurological disorders, and respiratory disease.
The good news is that manufacturing products with less toxic materials and promoting the development of "green chemistry" can protect our communities, workers, and ecosystems. It can also save businesses money, increase efficiency, reduce liability, and give them a competitive advantage as other parts of the world regulate the use of toxic materials.
California's EPA had recently launched a Green Chemistry Initiative, investigating ways to promote the design, manufacture, and use of non-toxic chemical products, while reducing waste, creating sustainable businesses and jobs, and using less energy.
We need to make sure that the state adopts a strong program that provides incentives for the use of less-toxic chemicals, but that also phases out the most toxic chemicals and requires substitution of less-toxic alternatives.
Take Action: Write to Linda Adams, the Secretary of Environmental Protection. Urge her to make sure the state's Green Chemistry Initiative includes both incentives and strong regulations that will protect our health and the environment.
Victory! Governor Signs Our Bottled Water Right To Know Bill
Governor Schwarzenegger has signed into law Senate Bill 220, authored by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) and sponsored by Clean Water Action! This bill will provide essential water quality and consumer information to consumers of bottled and vended water.
More than 600 Clean Water Action members joined with a broad coalition of consumer groups, environmental justice and environmental organizations and water agencies to urge the Governor to sign the bill before the October 14th deadline. Many thanks to those of you who responded to our e-mail and phone alerts and sent a letter or e-mail to the Governor.
With the passage of SB 220, bottled water companies operating in California will be required to provide consumers with information on the quality of the water and levels of contaminants found in it. These requirements bring bottled water into compliance with the public disclosure rules for tap water.
The other key component of the bill improves consumer information and oversight of the more than 7500 vended water machines in California. SB 220 establishes maintenance requirements for the machines, mandates a proactive inspection program by the Department of Public Health, and requires that information on the machines be posted in both English and Spanish
The Department of Public Health Food and Drug branch is responsible for implementing this bill, which will take effect on January 1, 2009. Thanks again to all of our members for helping get this important bill approved!
Victory for San Francisco Bay!
Thanks to your support, we've won an important victory that will lead to the eventual clean up of San Francisco Bay and set a precedent of high standards for future clean up plans in other parts of the state! On July 17th, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted a plan to address mercury contamination in the Bay that included most of the features we fought for over the last 4 years. A key turning point in this long struggle came in September 2005 when we presented a letter to the State Board, signed by 2,500 of our Bay Area members, demanding that a stringent clean up plan be adopted. Read more about our historic victory.
Green Chemistry Initiative
Clean Water Action's California staff has taken a lead role in preventing pollution and protecting public and worker health by advocating for the reduction of toxic chemicals in products and industrial and agricultural processes and for the renewal of the state's economy through the promotion of green chemistry. Green chemistry is the design, manufacture, and use of non-toxic chemical products, while reducing waste, creating sustainable businesses and jobs, and using less energy. Learn more and read our report on Green Chemistry option in California.
Demand protection of the Clean Water Act!
The Clean Water Act is being threatened. Over 150,000 miles of waterways in California alone could loose their protections. Elected officials have drawn up the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act to enforce the meaning behind the Clean Water Act..to keep our drinking water sources clean!
Our strategy, strength in numbers! We need you to protect our most basic and precious resource, our water!
Find out whether or not your Representative has signed on to the Clean Water Authority Restoration Bill!
