Lawmakers press DTSC on permits, fees and pace of Safer Consumer Products after SB 158 reforms

The California State Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee held a joint oversight hearing to review the Department of Toxic Substances Control's (DTSC) progress implementing SB 158 (2021). Director Katie Butler told lawmakers the agency has focused on three priorities—strengthening enforcement, improving community engagement and working collaboratively with regulatory partners—and described recent enforcement actions and public-facing tools.

Butler pointed to several recent, high-profile enforcement moves: a criminal investigation with the Los Angeles district attorney that led to five felony counts against Atlas Metals and the shutdown of that facility near a high school, and an imminent and substantial endangerment order at Chiquita Canyon Landfill that included corrective measures and penalties up to $70,000 per day if the operator fails to act. "We won't hesitate to use [criminal] authority when necessary," Butler said, framing…