California Bill Exempting Metal Shredders From Hazardous Waste Protections Becomes Law, State Must Act to Protect Frontline Communities

California Bill Exempting Metal Shredders From Hazardous Waste Protections Becomes Law, State Must Act to Protect Frontline Communities

Communities call on state agency to protect them from toxic metal shredder waste after lawmakers provide industry with legal loophole

Contacts

Tylar Greene, [email protected]

This week, California bill SB 811 became law after Governor Newsom signed the bill. SB 811 dangerously weakens hazardous waste protections for public health and the environment from some of California's most toxic industrial polluters: metal shredding facilities. Advocates are calling on the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to step up and ensure frontline communities are protected.

Metal shredders process end-of-life cars, appliances, and other scrap metal, creating toxic waste that contains lead, cadmium, PCBs, copper, arsenic, and other harmful pollutants. These contaminants pollute air, soil, and water in surrounding neighborhoods, putting residents, children, and workers at risk of serious harm. The facilities also pose major fire risks. In 2023, a massive fire at Radius Recycling in Oakland prompted an air quality advisory when it sent hazardous smoke across Alameda County and beyond.

There are at least nine active metal shredders in California, and many are located in or near working-class communities and communities of color, including in Oakland, Colton, and Long Beach. Advocates from these communities are disappointed that the industry-backed effort to exclude metal shredders from critical hazardous waste requirements was passed and signed into law.

"We informed lawmakers at each step how dangerous this exclusion would be for the people who live by these shredders, but in the end they sided with an industry that's been polluting our neighborhoods and environment," said Gem Montes, advocate and resident of Colton.

For decades, mega shredders in California have been disrupting efforts by regulators to hold them accountable, including through several lawsuits challenging DTSC's authority to regulate metal shredder waste as hazardous waste.

"Calling hazardous waste by another name does nothing to address the significant risks placed on impacted communities and, in fact, will make things worse" said Thien Chau, senior attorney at Earthjustice. "We are disappointed in this blatant giveaway to industry. The state must do everything in its power to fulfill its obligation to protect public health and the environment from toxic hazards."

SB 811 relies on DTSC to implement an untested legal framework for regulating metal shredders. Metal shredders play a role in our recycling system, but they must adhere to laws and not pollute already over-burdened communities. Impacted communities are calling on DTSC to adopt stringent regulations that protect people and the environment and increase inspections to ensure compliance with those regulations.

"This is only the latest tactic by the industry to sidestep hazardous waste laws and keep polluting our communities," said Karen Chen, attorney at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "But the fight isn't over."

"SB 811 effectively allows metal shredding facilities to self-regulate," said Ben Eichenberg, senior attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper. "DTSC must step in to address ongoing problems at metal shredding facilities-including fires and releases of heavy metals into San Francisco Bay and surrounding communities. The agency must provide adequate oversight to offset this weakening of California's environmental protections."

Residents also raised concerns about how SB 811 got so far without consulting with the people most impacted by the mega shredders.

"In taking these vital next steps, DTSC must meaningfully engage with impacted communities across the state," said Veronica Eady, executive director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. "For Oakland, there's already the West Oakland Metal Shredder Collaborative hosted by WOEIP and CalEPA, where DTSC can collect input from the community, other regulators, and the facility."

"If DTSC is serious about protecting public health, advancing environmental justice, and holding toxic polluters accountable, it needs to step up now," said Andrea Luna, Policy Analyst with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.

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