AB1642 Support Sign-On Form

Eaton Fire Residents United worked with Assemblymember Harabedian's office to create AB1642 to support the public health recovery of residents after a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fire.

AB 1642 (Harabedian), the Wildfire Environmental Safety and Testing Act, passed the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (ESTM) and is now headed to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 14th.

This bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish science-based standards for testing and clearing smoke-contaminated buildings after wildfires. It sets health-protective thresholds for lead, asbestos, and other hazardous contaminants, and creates a Clearance Before Occupancy framework so families are not returning to unsafe homes.

There is no statewide standard. AB 1642 would change that.

By signing on below, your name and organization will be added to a coalition letter addressed to Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, urging her to move the bill off the suspense file and vote yes.

Letter for Organizational Endorsement

May 6th, 2026

Dear Assemblymember Wicks,

We write as a broad coalition of residents, community, environmental, public health, housing, and advocacy organizations in strong support of AB 1642 (Harabedian), the Wildfire Environmental Safety and Testing Act. We urge you to move this bill off the suspense file and vote yes in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 1642 passed the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials with bipartisan support. It now sits before your committee at a critical moment for California.

The January 2025 Los Angeles fires left behind more than burned structures. Wildfire smoke deposits hazardous contaminants on surfaces throughout affected areas, including lead, asbestos, heavy metals, cyanide, dioxins, and PAHs. These are not trace amounts. They persist in dust on floors, windowsills, and everyday objects long after the visible signs of fire are gone. Right now, more than 13,000 standing home smoke damage claims from the January fires remain unresolved, out of more than 40,000 total. Families are making decisions about where to live, work, and send their children to school without the information they need to stay safe.

AB 1642 fixes that. It requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish emergency regulations for science-based testing and clearance standards, with full OEHHA-aligned standards in place by 2028. It creates a Clearance Before Occupancy framework so that health-protective thresholds are met before families return home.

We recognize this bill will receive scrutiny on fiscal grounds. We want to be direct: the cost of inaction is far higher. Delayed cleanup extends displacement, increases long-term healthcare costs, and creates ongoing liability for the state. Early, standardized testing prevents the kind of prolonged contamination disputes that have driven remediation costs to far greater levels in other disaster contexts. AB 1642 is a framework that saves money by getting the science right the first time.

California has an opportunity to lead. Wildfires are not going away, and no statewide standard currently exists for smoke contamination testing and clearance. AB 1642 sets that standard, protects public health, and provides a replicable model for communities across the state.

We ask you to move AB 1642 off the suspense file and support its passage out of Appropriations.

Respectfully,