Construction in Altadena (Photo – W.K.)
After six months of negotiations, Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena) announced that his bill, AB 1642, would establish the nation’s first scientific testing standards for determining when residential properties are safe to reoccupy after a wildfire.
By News Desk
The bill is contingent on AB 1795, authored by Assemblymember Gipson, which would require insurers to follow the AB 1642 testing standards for properties within wildfire impact zones.
“Eaton Fire survivors know too well that any decision to return home must be guided by science, not insurance company guesswork,” Harabedian said. “Insurance companies wrongfully terminated survivors’ smoke-damage claims after the Eaton Fire without proper testing or cleanup, thereby imperiling my constituents’ health by forcing them back into contaminated homes. No family should have to worry about whether their home is free of contaminants after a fire. AB 1642 will create the nation’s first testing standards to ensure that decisions about returning home are driven by science.”
AB 1642 would direct the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the Air Resources Board to develop standards and guidance for investigating, testing for and removing specified contaminants, including lead and asbestos, from residential properties following a wildfire.
The standards are intended to help ensure homes are cleared for human occupancy before residents return. Through AB 1795, insurers would be required to follow the standards and guidance for residential properties within wildfire impact zones. The legislation also would establish advisory guidance for schools working to reopen safely after a wildfire.
“These protections grew directly out of the experiences and advocacy of Eaton and Palisades fire survivors,” said Jane Lawton Potelle, executive director of Eaton Fire Residents United. “Together, these first-in-the-nation bills recognize that wildfires cause toxic contamination in smoke-damaged homes that remain standing and establish a scientific framework for testing and remediating that contamination, as well as insurance coverage for those claims.”
François Tissot, a Caltech professor of geochemistry and an Eaton Fire victim, said homes that escaped the flames were found to contain asbestos, lead and other toxic heavy metals released by the fire.
“In the absence of mandatory testing and scientific standards for remediating properties, many families were forced to return to homes that were still contaminated, putting their health at risk,” Tissot said. “I am thankful that AB 1642 will help protect other communities by creating scientific standards and guidance for the safe reoccupancy of homes by wildfire survivors.”
The Senate is scheduled to vote on AB 1642 on Monday, Aug. 31, as early as 7:07 pm.
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