Advisory Board: Hazardous Materials Commission
Subject: Chemical Accidents and SB 883
Presenter: Commissioner Flores
Information:
Commissioner Flores proposed this agenda item and provided the following information:
Someone alerted me to the fact that chemical accidents are rising in the US.
The person highlighted that currently there is a bill (SB 883) going through the legislature as a direct response to the chemical disaster in Garden Grove.
Here's a link to SB 883:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB883 [leginfo.legislature.ca.gov] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB883__;!!LFxATBw!DfUvDnKwPtLvbUthGgTOjjYXgYVAbCv5Hd9iOWWJKTE75FmfKFaepXS8mM4fAOC3J6QstriHQQSEthDe_Z4G9AyoGw$>
FYI
This bill has wording specifically directed to the county's CUPA.
I copied and pasted this from the first article. This article was published on July 9, 2026.
"The report found the number of chemical accidents, explosions, fires and other emergencies that release chemicals into the atmosphere was up by at least 51% since 2021. Deaths and injuries were up at least 20%."
Here's a link to the article about chemical accidents rising:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/09/us-chemical-accidents-trump [theguardian.com] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/09/us-chemical-accidents-trump__;!!LFxATBw!DfUvDnKwPtLvbUthGgTOjjYXgYVAbCv5Hd9iOWWJKTE75FmfKFaepXS8mM4fAOC3J6QstriHQQSEthDe_Z4jLhD9Hg$>
Here's a link to another article about the EPA rolling back rules: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/27/trump-fire-chemical-safety-system-epa [theguardian.com] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/27/trump-fire-chemical-safety-system-epa__;!!LFxATBw!DfUvDnKwPtLvbUthGgTOjjYXgYVAbCv5Hd9iOWWJKTE75FmfKFaepXS8mM4fAOC3J6QstriHQQSEthDe_Z5-87_QIQ$>
Finally, here's a link to incident reports from the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB): https://www.csb.gov/news/incident-report-rule-form-/ [csb.gov] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.csb.gov/news/incident-report-rule-form-/__;!!LFxATBw!DfUvDnKwPtLvbUthGgTOjjYXgYVAbCv5Hd9iOWWJKTE75FmfKFaepXS8mM4fAOC3J6QstriHQQSEthDe_Z5GnGcwvQ$>
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
Discuss the rise in chemical accidents and SB 883.