Bill AB 1642
The Support Letter
Assemblymember Damon Connolly
Chair, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee
1021 O Street, Suite 5240, Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Support for AB 1642 (Harabedian) – Wildfire Testing Standards
Dear Chair Connolly,
On behalf of our organizations and individuals signed on below, we are writing to express our strong support for AB 1642, which would create uniform contamination testing standards to determine when a home is safe to reoccupy post-wildfire.
The 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires were devastating to Los Angeles. These historic firestorms forced nearly 192,000 residents to evacuate their homes. Many of those people have been unable to return due to glaring gaps in the state’s wildfire recovery framework.
As reported by the New York Times, Altadena residents have been forced back to their homes by their insurance company after the insurance company either denied the homeowners’ requests for toxin testing or falsely claimed the homes were sufficiently remediated. Homeowners have contracted for their own private testing and found elevated levels of carcinogens even after the insurance company claimed the home was safe to live in.
California does not have any standards to determine when a home is safe to reenter post-wildfire. The lack of standards has put residents in a war with their insurance companies as each dispute whether a home is safe. Without an established framework for which chemicals to test for and what concentration thresholds are safe, homeowners are left contracting for private contamination testing, paying out of pocket for another place to live, or are forced back to live in contaminated homes.
AB 1642 would provide certainty to wildfire survivors by establishing statewide standards for when a structure is safe to return to. The bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to develop standards for investigation, environmental testing, and removal of contaminants inside and outside of homes, schools, and workplaces in residential areas after a wildfire to help ensure that residents can safely reoccupy. These standards will be developed in an expedited rulemaking process.
For these reasons, our organizations and individuals signed on below respectfully urge your “AYE” vote on AB 1642.
Sincerely,
[organizations and individuals signed on through this form]
Email us your endorsement at contact@efru.la. Include your full name and, if representing an organization, also include the org name and logo.
THANK YOU
We greatly appreciate your partnership in our communities' recovery. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns you might have at contact@efru.la.
Sincerely,
Jane Lawton Potelle
Read about the current lack of health-based testing standards:
San Francisco Chronicle New York Times San Francisco Chronicle