California Can Grow Advanced Manufacturing Without Sacrificing Community Safety

Californians have seen how industrial disasters can upend lives and communities: chemical explosions, warehouse fires, emergency evacuations, toxic exposures, and costly cleanups paid for by the public. Last year, Senate Bill 131 created an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a broad category of “advanced manufacturing” facilities. Because that term was defined so broadly, the exemption could apply to projects such as chemical recycling operations, waste incinerators, and strip mines—facilities that may use hazardous chemicals, endanger nearby communities and workers, and weaken protections for threatened and endangered species. 

CEQA is California’s bedrock environmental law. It protects public health and safety, especially for communities already overburdened by pollution and environmental harm. CEQA gives residents, advocates, and decision-makers the information they need to understand a proposed project’s full impacts, including risks to health, air, water, wildlife, and natural resources; the chemicals and contaminants involved; reasonable alternatives; and mitigation measures. Without that review, communities are left in the dark about industrial projects that could pose preventable risks, including explosions, fires, toxic releases, and long-term contamination. 

This session, State Senator Catherine Blakespear introduced SB 954 to clarify essential protections for communities, workers, and the environment. The bill allows California to guard against toxic harms while supporting responsible growth in advanced manufacturing. SB 954 establishes clear standards for projects seeking faster environmental approvals, ensuring the state can advance innovation and economic development without abandoning core environmental safeguards. The bill also responds to business concerns by expanding eligible project sites to include parcels zoned for light and medium industrial uses. Because the original proposal limited the exemption to heavy industrial sites, this broader siting provision gives industry more flexibility to expand operations responsibly. 

Fifty California Assembly members and 28 state senators voted to fix the most harmful provisions in last year’s SB 131 by supporting SB 954. If Governor Gavin Newsom does not sign SB 954, projects enabled by last year’s legislation could threaten air and water quality and put Californians’ health at risk. SB 954 strikes the right balance: It helps prevent environmental harm and protects communities while exempting nonhazardous manufacturing facilities from CEQA. 

SB 954 strengthens environmental, community, and worker protections by: 

• Protecting residents from industries with a history of harm, including chemical manufacturing, waste incineration, and strip mining
• Safeguarding vulnerable communities by establishing protective buffers within 1,000 feet of a designated disadvantaged community, as identified through CalEnviroScreen, or within 1,600 feet of a sensitive receptor, such as a hospital, childcare center, or school
• Requiring semiconductor facilities to use PFAS capture equipment and destroy PFAS without incineration, helping to protect natural resources and public health
• Strengthening protections for air and water quality 
• Restoring standards that protect sensitive, threatened, and endangered species
• Creating a pathway for enforceable community benefits agreements that prioritize high-road jobs, worker protections, and upward mobility

These safeguards are essential to protecting Californians from environmental harm and health impacts that can impose lasting costs on families, communities, natural resources, and habitat. 

SB 954 is a pragmatic compromise. It supports California’s advanced manufacturing sector while preserving strong public health and environmental protections. It does not slow or impede the state’s efforts to build more housing; California YIMBY, a pro-housing advocacy group, is neutral on the bill. Together, these provisions create a clearer, more responsible pathway for advanced manufacturing to grow. 

California is not immune to environmental harm or industrial disasters. The state must restore essential safeguards while creating a process that allows advanced manufacturing to grow responsibly and operate as a good neighbor. By correcting major flaws in SB 131, the proposed SB 954 advances a balanced vision for California—one in which communities, workers, and businesses can thrive together. 

Governor Newsom should sign SB 954. The bill gives California a powerful opportunity to uphold essential environmental and community protections while showing that responsible development and economic growth can advance together. As one of the nation’s leading manufacturing powerhouses and the fourth-largest economy in the world, California can demonstrate that industrial strength does not require sacrificing environmental values. By signing SB 954, Governor Newsom can help set a national model for responsible, community-centered manufacturing.