Senate Environmental Quality committee advances a slate of bills on carbon removal, recycling, PFAS and more; votes move multiple measures to next committees

SACRAMENTO — The Senate Environmental Quality Committee on April 2 took up more than a dozen measures spanning climate policy, waste management, toxics and emergency-response exemptions. Lawmakers heard extended testimony from authors, industry, environmental groups and local governments, and advanced a bundle of bills to the next committee stops.

Amid the steady stream of witnesses the committee focused on six broad subjects: standards for carbon dioxide removal; a new regulatory program for metal shredding facilities; caps and timelines for hazardous-waste fees tied to housing projects; a proposed “polluter pays” climate damages study and fee; phasing out intentionally added PFAS; and new producer / stewardship rules for hard-to-manage products including expired marine flares and end-of-life electric vehicle batteries.

Key takeaways - SB 285 (Becker) would set statewide standards for carbon dioxide removal (CDR), establishing durability and community-protection requirements and a pathway for nature-based and engineered removals to be credited in state accounting. Witnesses for and against expressed support for high-quality standards while urging further technical detail. The bill advanced to the next committee.

- SB 404 (Caballero) would create a DTSC permitting program for metal shredding facilities. The hearing included long testimony from industry groups supporting regulatory certainty and from environmental justice and small-shredder witnesses urging stronger enforcement, notice and cost protections for small businesses. The measure advanced from committee.

- SB 328 (Grayson) would cap DTSC’s hazardous-waste generator fee for specified housing, nonprofit, park and master development projects (three-tier cap structure) and add timing requirements for certain DTSC authorizations. Affordable housing and university witnesses said the fee increases have blocked projects; the bill advanced.

- SB 684 (Menjivar) — termed a “polluters pay climate superfund” proposal — would commission a statewide study of climate damages…