Commissioners Rally to Save 40-Year-Old HazMat Commission From Dissolution

The Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Commission mounted a unanimous defense of its existence after learning that its own staff director had quietly proposed sunsetting the body — a 40-year-old citizen panel that brings together labor, business, environmental, and engineering voices on one of the state's most industrialized corridors. With the county's hazardous materials programs weeks away from transferring to the fire district, commissioners are now racing to prove their worth before the Board of Supervisors decides their fate.

• Every commissioner who spoke rejected a staff proposal to dissolve the HazMat Commission, instead pushing for a retooled mission and formal advisory role

• Cal EPA will hold a July 17 public hearing on transferring hazardous materials certification from Contra Costa Health to the fire district

• Industrial Safety Ordinance revisions head to the Board of Supervisors on June 9

• Commissioners pressed for a public hazardous materials map of the county's industrial corridors, but ADA compliance delays online access

On Tuesday, Director Nicole Heath took a proposal to the Board of Supervisors' Internal Operations Committee recommending that the Hazardous Materials Commission be sunsetted. Two days later, she stood before the commissioners she'd proposed eliminating and tried to explain.