Governor Brown has signed Baykeeper's AB 1112 to provide much-needed funding for oil spill prevention and response measures in California. The budget for California's Office of Spill Prevention and Response was set for huge cuts because oil companies were fighting a modest increase in fees to fund the program. The bill will raise the fee 1.5 cents on a barrel of oil and fund protections for the Bay and coastlines statewide.
The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Jared Huffman, sponsored by San Francisco Baykeeper and supported widely by Baykeeper members and environmental groups statewide. It was co-sponsored by Pacific Environment.