Steve Bennett — Chair Connolly is referenced as part of a discussion about the Legislature being ready and willing to help.
Jesse Arreguín — Welcomed by the chair as a colleague present for questions.
Jesse Arreguín — The senator thanks the witnesses and Madam Chair, with the transcript/caption indicating the speaker as Senator Reyes, though the exact identity is uncertain due to a possible captioning error.
Chris Rogers — Welcomed by the chair as a colleague present for questions.
Caroline Menjivar — Asked questions about hazardous waste permitting and balancing accountability with facility capacity and community impacts.
Caroline Menjivar — Asked how to balance shorter permits, facility accountability, waste volume, and community impacts.
Caroline Menjivar — Pressed the director on balancing facility need with community impacts and permit denials.
Caroline Menjivar — Argued that one incident is already serious and questioned the threshold for unacceptable facilities.
Gregg Hart — The speaker references Assembly Member Connolly as supportive of helping.
Don Kupke — Named as a member of the next panel on DTSC permitting and the Hazardous Waste Management Plan.
Angela Johnson Mazzaro — Named as a member of the next panel on DTSC permitting and the Hazardous Waste Management Plan.
Don Kepke — Introduces himself and says he represents the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance.
Chris Ward — The witness addresses Chair Connolly; the transcript likely intended another chair name, but no correction is certain from context.
Steve — Steve is referenced as remaining concerned about regulatory burden, costs, and mitigation burdens.
SB673 — SB 673 is referenced as the cumulative impacts/community vulnerability regulations that may add compliance obligations and costs.
Ms. Kupke — The chair asks Ms. Kupke to wrap up her remarks.
Angela Johnson-Mazares — Angela Johnson-Mazares introduces herself as a senior attorney in Earthjustice's Community Partnerships Program and explains her perspective on DTSC.
Richard Kamimura — Richard Kamimura is quoted from a 2018 hearing about a delayed permit decision and community protection.
Cameron Moore — Cameron Moore is referenced as having passed away this year, with his words and deeds still influencing the work.
Lieutenant Eduardo Obarra — Lieutenant Eduardo Obarra is quoted reflecting on firefighter risk.
Eduardo Ibarra — Referenced as reflecting on the risk he and his firefighters faced responding to a fire at a scrap metal recycler.
Rebecca Overmeyer Velazquez — Quoted as saying regulators back down and that this is the biggest problem, in the context of her engagement with DTSC.
Ms. Kepke — Responded to follow-up questions about DTSC permitting reforms and said members have seen improvements.
Ms. Mazaros — Was asked for suggestions on steps the Legislature can take to help DTSC's programs.
Avanich Carr — Named as one of the witnesses for the third panel.
Nicole Quignonis — Named as one of the witnesses for the third panel.
Nicole Quignonis — Introduced herself as representing the Household and Commercial Products Association and speaking on source reduction, household hazardous waste, and the Safe for Consumer Products program.
Ivana Castellanos — Named as one of the witnesses for the third panel.
SB502 — SB 502 is discussed as a 2022 law meant to remove structural barriers in the Safe for Consumer Products program by giving clear authority to obtain product data from manufacturers and creating an expedited alternatives-analysis pathway. The witness notes that implementation regulations were only proposed three years after passage and urges the program to move more quickly to fully use the improvements and authorities provided by SB 502.
SB502 — Referenced as one of the topics the speaker worked on with Mr. Carr.
SB502 — Cited as the source of authorities the speaker wants the department and program to fully use.
Ms. Gennonis — Referenced as someone the speaker worked with to pass SB 502; name is uncertain in the transcript.
SB62 — SB 62 is discussed as a bill the organization is sponsoring to phase out unnecessary uses of PFAS, or forever chemicals, including in six categories of products.
AB347 — AB 347 was discussed as the source of new enforcement authority for the program and as an enforcement framework that future laws can build on. The discussion also emphasized that the Legislature should provide funding so the program can carry out its mandate and implement the enforcement and regulatory structure created by AB 347.
Nancy Björmeyer — Testified on behalf of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, supporting the Safer Consumer Products Program while expressing concern about slow progress and welcoming metrics.
Nicole Kenyones — The speaker says they have worked with Nicole Kenyones on many projects but do not agree with her on this issue.
Heidi Sandborn — Testified as executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council, focusing on producer responsibility and household hazardous waste.
Dr. Quirk — Named as a co-sponsor with the speaker on the Aquatox bill in 2022.
Nicole Cignonis — Referenced as agreeing that the Aquatox test should be eliminated.
Melissa Bumstead — Testified on behalf of Parents Against the Santa Susanna Field Lab and described her petition for cleanup of the site.
Christine Wolfe — Representative of WM, formerly Waste Management, testifies in support of improvements at DTSC.
John Kennedy — Represents the Rural County Representatives of California and discusses household hazardous waste facilities.
Aleha Crutcher — Introduces herself as the next witness.
Aleha Kretcher — Testifies for Communities for a Better Environment about DTSC's unmet commitments and cleanup concerns.
Scott Andrews — Represents the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and begins testimony on metal shredder feedstock.
SB404 — Speaker says SB 404 would permanently give the exemption to the industry.
Jerry Desmond — Speaks on behalf of Recreational Boaters of California about EPR challenges for marine flares.
Thomas Helm — Thomas Helm introduces himself as the co-founder of Valley Improvement Projects and Environmental Justice and adds that he is also the coordinator of the California Environmental Justice Coalition.
SB158 — SB 158 is discussed as the legislation tied to DTSC’s community cleanup efforts. One speaker credits the bill, along with Director Butler’s appointment, for improvements at the department, while later remarks frame it as the point after which DTSC allegedly failed to meet commitments to the community and as intended to support a more community-considerate cleanup.
Katie Butler — Identified as the newly appointed director of DTSC and a first-panel witness.