Bill Text: CA SJR30 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Air quality: leaded aviation fuel.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-08-14 - Ordered to inactive file on request of Senator Lieu. [SJR30 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SJR30-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SJR 30 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lieu
JULY 3, 2014
Relative to air quality.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 30, as introduced, Lieu. Air quality: leaded aviation fuel.
This measure would support the Federal Aviation Administration's
initiative to certify safe unleaded aviation fuel for piston engine
aircraft and would encourage the Federal Aviation Administration and
the United States Environmental Protection Agency to prioritize the
development and certification of unleaded aviation fuel in advance of
2018.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, Aviation gasoline, or avgas as it is commonly known, is
utilized in general aviation aircraft that are powered by
internalcombustion reciprocating piston engines; and
WHEREAS, Avgas is a leaded fuel and its combustion results in
toxic air emissions of lead; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the operation of general aviation aircraft is the
greatest source of lead emissions in California; and
WHEREAS, Lead that is emitted into the air can be inhaled or,
after it settles out of the air, ingested. Ingestion of lead that has
settled onto surfaces is the main way children are exposed to lead
originally released in the air; and
WHEREAS, Once in the body, lead is rapidly absorbed into the
bloodstream and results in a broad range of health effects. Public
health officials have concluded that there is no safe level of
exposure to lead; and
WHEREAS, Children are especially susceptible to the toxic effects
of lead. Exposure to lead can result in irreversible brain damage and
reduce a person's cognitive function; and
WHEREAS, Exposure to low levels of lead early in life have been
linked to effects on a person's intelligence quotient (IQ), learning,
memory, and behavior; and
WHEREAS, Lead has been successfully removed from many consumer
goods, including household paint and toys. Lead was successfully
phased out of automobile gas in California in 1992; and
WHEREAS, The EPA adopted a similar program that phased lead out of
automobile gasoline nationwide in 1996. However, despite successes
of lead removal programs, avgas remains a public health threat due to
its high lead content and toxic air emissions; and
WHEREAS, Lead content of avgas is regulated at the federal level.
All fuels for air transportation must be certified as safe by the
Federal Aviation Administration; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) together with
the EPA has developed a goal to identify a viable unleaded avgas by
2018, which will ultimately eliminate lead emissions from piston
engine aircraft; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature supports the FAA's
initiative to certify safe unleaded aviation fuel for piston engine
aircraft and encourages the FAA and the EPA to prioritize the
development and certification of unleaded aviation fuel in advance of
2018; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration and to the Secretary of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency and to the author for appropriate
distribution.
