{"id":479003,"date":"2026-09-29T04:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/479003\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T04:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:48:16","slug":"2-bills-aimed-at-supporting-boyle-heights-residents-impacted-by-food-warehouse-fire-stench-whittier-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/479003\/","title":{"rendered":"2 bills aimed at supporting Boyle Heights residents impacted by food warehouse fire, stench \u2013 Whittier Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> has signed two bills aimed at supporting residents impacted by the July 17 cold-storage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights and to prevent a similar disaster from occurring elsewhere across California, the Governor\u2019s Office said Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoyle Heights showed us the lasting impact a major facility emergency can have on a community,\u201d Newsom said in a statement. \u201cThese laws strengthen the tools, resources and accountability needed to protect residents and help communities respond when emergencies happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 716, authored by state Sen. Mar\u00eda Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, increases fines for violations of local ordinances involving specified nonresidential structures of 20,000 square feet or more when the violations pose a threat to health and safety. Violations that result in a governor-declared state of emergency or federal disaster declaration may reach up to $50,000. The enhanced penalties apply in Los Angeles County, then expand to qualifying areas elsewhere in the state beginning July 1, 2028.<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 817, authored by Assemblyman Mark Gonz\u00e1lez, D-Los Angeles, establishes new contingency-fund requirements for specified community needs for certain large cold storage facilities. Until July 1, 2028, the requirement applies to facilities within the boundaries of the Boyle Heights Community Plan in the city of Los Angeles, and applies statewide beginning July 1, 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies in Boyle Heights and East LA were exposed to toxic smoke and lived with the stench of millions of pounds of rotting food for months. They could not open their windows and could not let their kids play outside,\u201d Durazo said. \u201cTheir health suffered, while the company responsible faced fines too small to matter. Today, Governor Newsom sent a clear message: Corporations that put our communities at risk will finally face consequences that reflect the harm they cause. Alongside AB 817, SB 716 exists because this community endured this crisis, organized in response to it, and demanded better because of it. This is their victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass<\/a> also welcomed the signings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate Governor Newsom signing this critical legislation that Assemblymember Mark Gonz\u00e1lez, Senator Mar\u00eda Elena Durazo, and I worked on and got across the finish line to help the people of Boyle Heights and East LA,\u201d she said Sunday. \u201cThese pieces of legislation ensure cold storage companies take responsibility for the impacts of their operations, provide critical protections for residents in the event of an emergency, and allow cities and counties to impose higher fines when the health and safety of communities are threatened. I will continue doing everything in my authority to connect residents to critical assistance and to demand the answers and accountability this community deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire erupted June 17 at the Lineage Logistics facility<\/a> at 1400 S. Los Palos St. It raged for days and led to millions of pounds of rotting food, impacting nearby residents. Lineage eventually completed a massive cleanup effort at the site.<\/p>\n

The cause of the fire remains officially undetermined, but investigators found that the blaze originated on the roof at or near a section of solar panels. Lineage has sued Altus Power Inc.<\/a>, owner of the solar array on the building\u2019s roof, and contractor Pearce Services, alleging they were responsible for starting the fire.<\/p>\n

A representative of Los Palos Street Operating, an Altus subsidiary, has disputed Lineage\u2019s allegations and said the company would contest the claims in court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two bills aimed at supporting residents impacted by the July 17 cold-storage warehouse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,400,643,457,4132,48,52,51,205,47,137,50,49,100,13,4720],"class_list":["post-479003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-california","tag-california-politics","tag-environment","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-karen-bass","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-local-politics","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-public-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}