Policy Watch
Selected Policies & Regulations SF Bay PSR has supported or opposed, mostly in California. To read more about our joint efforts with PSR National on Anti-Nuclear issues, please see our newsletters, Nuclear Weapons Abolition page, and visit PSR National’s website here.
THANK YOU to ALL the organizations that led advocacy efforts, and to all who signed, wrote, called, and made public comments to advocate for the many environment and health related bills in California this year. Many bills have died in committee, but we are resilient and will carry on with our advocacy efforts and work to reincarnate and support bills for the next session.
SF Chronicle: For environmentalists, California’s Legislature has been ‘a bloodbath’ this year
Special thanks to SF Bay PSR intern, Daisy Valdivieso, for her work tracking and researching policies.
SUPPORTED: AB 1200 (Ting), also known as the California Safer Food Packaging & Cookware Act of 2021
AB 1200 (Ting), also known as the California Safer Food ...
SUPPORTED: AB 652 (Friedman) to remove PFAS from children’s toys and products
AB 652 (Friedman) This bill would, on and after July ...
SUPPORTED: SB 47 (Limón) more funds to address hazardous oil wells
SB 47 (Limón) Existing law prohibits CalGEM from spending more ...
SUPPORTED: SB 433 (Allen) will authorize the California Coastal Commission to levy fines
SB 433 (Allen) will authorize the California Coastal Commission to ...
SUPPORTED: AB 1346 (Berman/Gonzalez) will phase out the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and off-road engines
AB 1346 (Berman/Gonzalez) will phase out the sale of gas-powered ...
SUPPORTED: Setbacks from oil wells
Setbacks from oil wells: After much effort to reincarnate last ...
BIG NEWS! BAAQMD voted to reduce air pollution and protect community health in the Bay Area!
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Board of Directors ...
SUPPORTED SB 582 the Climate Emergency Mitigation, Climate Safe Restoration, and Just Resilience Act of 2021
SUPPORTED SB 582 the Climate Emergency Mitigation, Climate Safe Restoration, and ...
UPDATE: SB 467 Ban Fracking and Other Destructive Oil Extraction Methods and to Require Distance Between Oil Extraction and Homes and Schools
UPDATE May 13, 2021: SF Bay PSR SUPPORTED SB 467: ...
SUPPORT: “NO FIRST USE” Nuclear Policy Adoption
PSR Supports “NO FIRST USE” Physicians for Social Responsibility salutes ...
SUPPORTED: Win Without War and Public Citizen letter
SUPPORTED: Win Without War and Public Citizen letter In opposition ...
SUPPORT: Various policy proposals to Cut Pentagon Spending
Cut Pentagon Spending In March, Representatives Barbara Lee, Marc Pocan, ...
SUPPORT: Investing in Cures Before Missiles Act (ICBM) (Senate: S.982. House: H.R.2227)
Investing in Cures Before Missiles Act (ICBM) (Senate: S.982. House: ...
SIGNED: Budget proposal authored by California Can’t Wait Coalition to build public health equity infrastructure
SIGNED: Budget proposal authored by California Can’t Wait Coalition which ...
SUPPORTED AB 1200: Sponsored by Assemblymember Ting, the bill would prohibit PFAS toxic chemicals in paper-based food packaging
SUPPORTED AB 1200: Sponsored by Assemblymember Ting, the bill would ...
SUPPORTED AB 652: Environmental Working Group’s organizational sign on letter to prohibit PFAS in children’s products
SUPPORTED AB 652: Environmental Working Group’s organizational sign on letter ...
SUPPORTED AB 30: Audubon California’s organizational sign on letter making access to nature a human right
SUPPORTED AB 30: Audubon California's organizational sign on letter in ...
SUPPORTED AB 1371: Oceana’s organizational sign on letter to phase out single-use plastics
SUPPORTED AB 1371: Oceana’s organizational sign on letter in support ...
SUPPORTED AB 125: Californians for Pesticide Reform’s organizational sign on letter
SUPPORTED AB 125: Californians for Pesticide Reform’s organizational sign on ...
SUPPORTED: Signed organizational letter in support of the Orphan Wells Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021
SUPPORTED: Signed organizational letter in support of the Orphan Wells ...
SUPPORTED methane regulation petition to the EPA
SUPPORTED methane regulation petition to the EPA: Signed the Climate ...
SUPPORTED AB 1346: calls for a ban on the use of combustion-powered landscape equipment in CA by January 2024.
SUPPORTED AB 1346: San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility ...
California governor Gavin Newsom directed state regulators to begin a process of ending new permits for hydrofracturing in 2024
Governor Newsom ordered a ban on new oil fracking by ...
UPDATE: California Building Decarbonization Package: SB 30, SB 31, SB 32 & SB 37
SUPPORTED: California Building Decarbonization Package: SB 30, SB 31, SB ...
SIGNED: Letter to advocate for Governor Newsom to appoint California Transportation Commissioners who embrace 21st-century equitable, decentralized, clean energy system concepts.
SIGNED: Letter to advocate for Governor Newsom to appoint California ...
SIGNED: Letter to encourage The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is the agency that regulates stationary sources of air pollution (like PM)
SIGNED: Letter to encourage The Bay Area Air Quality Management ...
SIGNED: Letter urging the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to prioritize a swift phase out of fossil fuels for health, climate, and clean air benefits throughout the region.
SIGNED: Letter urging the Bay Area Air Quality Management District ...
SUCCESS: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Drops Plan to Deregulate Rad-Waste Disposal.
SUCCESS: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Drops Plan to Deregulate Rad-Waste Disposal. ...
SIGNED: Letter to U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office Re: Draft Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS-0542) written by Snake River Alliance. SIGNED: Letter to U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office Re: Draft Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS-0542) written by Snake River Alliance. While fuel for all nuclear reactors is dangerous, the fuel for the proposed VTR is especially concerning. In addition to uranium, plutonium would also be required to fuel the reactor. The proposed use of plutonium presents typical risks of contamination and hazardous waste, but also the additional danger of nuclear proliferation and the threat of terrorism. Plutonium is a key component of nuclear bombs, and its proposed use as fuel for the VTR will set a dangerous precedent for the nuclear energy industry in the future. READ MORE …
SIGNED: Letter to U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office ...
SIGNED: letter by Trust for America’s Health. As Congress considers the Administration’s request for additional COVID response funding and looks ahead to recovery, it is vital to strengthen the public health system for the immediate response as well as the long-term
SIGNED: letter by Trust for America’s Health. As Congress considers ...
Health and Medical Organizations Call for Immediate Action to Protect Our Nation’s Health in the Face of the Climate Health Emergency
PSR and 68 health and medical organizations call on the ...
White House FACT SHEET: President Biden Takes Executive Actions to Tackle the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, Create Jobs, and Restore Scientific Integrity Across Federal Government
On January 27, 2021, President Biden will take executive action ...
SUCCESS! United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has entered into force
The world celebrated on January 22, 2021, when the United ...
PASSED!!! San Francisco unanimously voted embrace the UN Treaty on Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons
BRAVO! The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously PASSED a ...
SUCCESS: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Drops Plan to Deregulate Rad-Waste Disposal
SF Bay PSR joined PSR-LA, Committee to Bridge the Gap, ...
SIGNED: Letter to encourage Governor Newsom to appoint Utilities Commissioners who embrace 21st-century equitable, decentralized, clean energy system concepts
Re: California Public Utilities Commission Appointments Dear Governor Newsom, On ...
SIGNED: Letter calling on President-Elect Joe Biden to issue an Executive Order that enacts his campaign commitment to ban new federal fossil fuel leasing and permitting on public lands and waters.
We urge your issuance of the following Executive Order to ...
OPPOSED: Signed letter against the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act, S. 4897
S. 4897 would expand uranium mining and provide subsidies and ...
PASSED: Town of Atherton Proclamation endorses the five Back from the Brink points in pursuit of preventing nuclear war
Mayor Rick DeGolia signed the Town of Atherton's Proclamation endorsing ...
SIGNED: Californians for Pesticide Reform: Farms to Schools program
Farm to School Programs are a vital way to improve ...
SUBMITTED Public Comments: AB 2588 “Hot Spots” Air Toxics Program
The substances considered by the State of California to be ...
SIGNED: To support CA Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-79-20, concerning oil drilling in CA
The organizations signing this letter welcome Governor Newsom's Executive Order ...
SIGNED: Letter to call on health insurers to divest billions from fossil fuels
SIGNED: Letter with 60 health and environmental groups to call ...
SIGNED: A public Letter to Patients regarding health impacts of climate change
SIGNED: A public Letter to Patients urging them to convince ...
SUBMITTED Public Comments: to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Commissioners and Staff, in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
SUBMITTED Public Comments: to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ...
SIGNED: The Pew Charitable Trusts campaign letter to prevent the emergence of a seabed mining industry targeting hard minerals such as metals, metal-rich sands, and phosphorite nodules in California’s state waters.
SIGNED: The Pew Charitable Trusts campaign letter to prevent the ...
SUBMITTED Public Comments: to strengthen city ordinances in San Francisco, Los Altos, San Mateo, and San Jose on new home construction electrification, calling for an all-electric code.
SUBMITTED Public Comments: to strengthen city ordinances in San Francisco, ...
SIGNED: East Bay Clean Power Alliance letter
SIGNED: East Bay Clean Power Alliance letter to East Bay ...
SUBMITTED Public Comments and SIGNED a letter: to the to the California Energy Commission (CEC) supporting an all-electric baseline in the 2022 Buildings Code.
SUBMITTED Public Comments and SIGNED a letter: to the to ...
SIGNED: Public Health Comments on Advanced Clean Cars II Workshop
SIGNED: Public Health Comments on Advanced Clean Cars II Workshop ...
PASSED: the California Air Resources Board unanimously adopted the landmark Advanced Clean Trucks rule
PASSED: the California Air Resources Board unanimously adopted the landmark ...
Supported: letter from California Certified Organic Farmers
Supported: letter from California Certified Organic Farmers calling for an ...
Signed: letter to VP Pence urging a reversal of the recent CDC COVID guidelines
Signed an organizational sign-on letter coordinated by the Infectious Diseases Society ...
Opposed: the Lawrence Livermore National Lab continued and expanded nuclear weapons activities
Submitted comments at the public hearing about the Lawrence Livermore ...
Signed: CDC Employee Letter to Address Workplace Racism and Discrimination
Signed: CDC Employee Letter to Address Workplace Racism and Discrimination ...
Passed: The Good Food Purchasing Standards, San Francisco
Bravo to SF Bay PSR Board member Dr. Tom Newman ...
Signed: Letter to Support AB 345 to California State Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee from health professionals in California
Over 600 physicians, nurses and health professionals in California, many ...
SF Bay PSR and National PSR support the following policy solutions toward a nuclear-weapons-free world
1. Support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons ...
Passed with recommendations by SF Bay PSR: Berkeley City Council Resolution
Berkeley City Council, CA, voted on a resolution that will ...
Opposed by SF Bay PSR: Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Proposed Interpretative Rule on Transfer of Very Low-Level Waste to Exempt Persons for Disposal
This very dangerous and under-the-radar move by the NRC would ...
Endorsed by PSR National: many amendments to National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
PSR submitted comments to support many of the amendments made ...
Opposed by PSR National: Republican “HEALS Act” to provide an additional $30 billion to the Department of Defense
75 Organizations say NO to GOP Plans to Use COVID-19 ...
Submitted Public Comments: Public Health and Air Quality Professionals Call for an All-Electric Energy Code in the 2022 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Docket No. 19-BSTD-03)
Public Health and Air Quality Professionals Call for an ...
Passed: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Bans Nuclear from Clean Power Program
After an upsurge of widespread public outcry against a proposed ...
Passed: California Air Resources Board adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Standards
In June 2020, the California Air Resources Board unanimously ...
Endorsed: AB-345, to require CA Secretary of NRA to create an environmental justice program
Endorsed AB-345, which requires the CA Secretary of the ...
Opposed: The use of Carbon Tetrachloride by submitting public comments to EPA
Opposed the continued use of Carbon Tetrachloride by submitting public ...
Endorsed: SB 1044, to ban the manufacture, distribution, and use of PFAS
Endorsed SB 1044, which bans the manufacture, distribution and use ...