In alignment with our commitment to environmental stewardship and public service, the Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) recently took action to support two legislative initiatives (SB 903 and AB 2626) aimed at addressing critical environmental challenges and ensuring the sustainability of essential public services.

OC San joined dozens of agencies in support of Senate Bill (SB) 903 co-sponsored by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. The bill seeks to eliminate harmful forever chemicals from products unintentionally used by consumers in their daily lives.

In recent years, Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become a topic of public concern due to their high mobility and resistance to breaking down naturally and the persistent detection of PFAS compounds in people’s bodies and in the environment. As environmental stewards, maintaining affordable essential public services is imperative and SB 903 is the most cost-efficient method for reducing baseline concentrations of PFAS in our water, wastewater and waste management processes by stopping them at the source.

OC San is also supporting Assembly Bill (AB) 2626, which aims to extend compliance deadlines for. California’s local governments facing challenges in transitioning to zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) fleets mandated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This 10-year extension will facilitate improvements in electric vehicle and battery technologies along with manufacturing the volume of vehicles necessary to outfit the fleets of nearly 500 cities, 58 counties, and thousands of special districts in California. AB 2626 seeks a more practical approach to compliance with the current regulations to address the issues of availability, cost, and operational impacts.

For more information on OC San’s legislative efforts please visit Public Affairs and Legislative Engagement | Orange County Sanitation District (ocsan.gov).