CÁRDENAS APPLAUDS CALIFORNIA LAW TO PREVENT LEAD POLLUTION
Friday, October 11, 2013
CÁRDENAS APPLAUDS CALIFORNIA LAW TO PREVENT LEAD POLLUTION
(San Fernando Valley, Calif.) -- U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley), a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, today applauded leadership shown by Governor Jerry Brown and the California Legislature, who took an important step toward reducing lead pollution in California.
Brown signed Assembly Bill 711, authored by Assemblymembers Anthony Rendon of Lakewood and Dr. Richard Pan of Sacramento, which will require hunters to use non-lead ammunition beginning in 2019.
Along with environmental damage that can impact humans, lead ammunition threatens the California condor, golden eagle and other protected species. One in five wild condors has ingested levels of lead from spent ammuinition that have placed them at risk of dying from lead poisoning.
“Governor Brown and the leadership of the State Assembly are again on the cutting-edge in their protection of our people, our animals and our environment,” said Cárdenas. “When there are so many alternatives and we know that lead does such damage, it is up to all of us to take steps to protect our air, our water and our land. I commend Assemblymembers Rendon and Pan for their hard work and Governor Brown for his courage in signing this important law.”
In 1991, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started requiring non-lead shot like steel and copper for hunting ducks and geese across the United States. In 2009, the National Park Service announced the goal of eliminating the use of lead ammunition nationwide.
Non-lead ammunition is already being manufactured in the state of California. Many hunters in the state use non-lead ammunition for hunting big game and water birds across California.
Cárdenas has long been a supporter of both the environment and animal rights. In 2005, he founded Los Angeles’ first Animal Cruelty Task Force and also created L.A.’s mandatory spay and neuter law. Cárdenas has also been a consistent champion of open space and clean water legislation in California.
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