Jun 12, 2008 9:35 am US/Pacific
Governor, Lawmakers Meet On Oil Spill Legislation
SACRAMENTO (BCN) ―
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Wednesday touted a bipartisan meeting with state legislators intended to highlight "solutions to strengthen and streamline California's oil spill prevention and response."
Schwarzenegger said the meeting, which included state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, as well as a bipartisan group of legislators from Southern California, explored both legislative and administrative solutions.
"There is so much at stake—our waterways and our wildlife, our ecosystem and our economy—and today's actions will successfully enhance our oil spill prevention and response efforts," said Schwarzenegger in a statement following the meeting.
He outlined a series of administrative changes already in the works: speeding up state response times to spills in high-traffic port areas; more accurately and quickly notifying local governments about spills; developing new state guidelines for helping oiled wildlife; and funding a 24-hour oceanographic monitoring program in San Francisco Bay that provides information about currents, depth, salinity and wind.
Schwarzenegger also pledged to sign current proposed legislation from state Assembly members Simitian, Wolk and Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, requiring proper training of first responders; enhanced safety standards and greater state oversight of oil production facilities; inland oil spill response and cleanup measures that match current standards for marine spills; and stricter penalties for both inland and marine spills.
The Nov. 7 Cosco Busan oil spill fouled San Francisco Bay with more than 53,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel, temporarily closing local beaches, killing thousands of birds and other wildlife, and severely damaging the area's fishing industry.
Though almost 20,000 gallons of oil were eventually recovered from the spill, delays in the initial reporting of the spill were widely criticized, as were aspects of response coordination.
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