Opponents of Landfill Lose Latest Skirmish : Elsmere Canyon: Sen. Ed Davis’ bill would have forced future operators of the dump to comply with a new state law on site selection. Opponents say the measure restates existing law.

SACRAMENTO —  A state Assembly committee on Monday rejected a bill intended to ensure that the proposed Elsmere Canyon Landfill--which the city and county of Los Angeles are considering building next to the city of Santa Clarita--complies with a new state law regulating the location of garbage dumps.

The bill by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) was backed by officials from Santa Clarita, who maintained that it is needed to ensure that environmental safeguards are followed should the dump be developed.

But opponents, led by Los Angeles County and BKK Inc., said the proposal merely restates existing law and is unnecessary.

After more than an hour of debate, the bill failed on a 2-1 vote by the Natural Resources Committee, which granted Davis the right to revive the measure, possibly as early as next week.

The bill, which previously passed the Senate, needed seven votes to move out of the committee. Most of the committee’s members were present but did not vote.

Santa Clarita Councilwoman Jill Klajic, one of a delegation of community leaders who flew to Sacramento to lobby on behalf of the measure, said she hopes the additional week “will give us time” to get more lawmakers “on our side.”

The proposed dump would be just outside the city of Santa Clarita and would hold millions of tons of waste, dumped over the next 50 years.

Under an agreement signed earlier this year, Los Angeles city and county officials would buy the canyon from BKK, reimbursing the firm for the cost of preparing the canyon plus paying the company $125 million.

At issue is whether Los Angeles city and county governments, in developing any Elsmere Canyon landfill, must comply with a comprehensive state law that took effect this year regulating waste disposal.

Under current law, local governments have until 1994 to develop a waste management plan detailing how they will meet the goals of the new law, which is aimed both at reducing the amount of trash allowed into dumps and at increasing recycling. In the meantime, Los Angeles County is prohibited from approving the creation of landfills unless the state determines they are needed to ensure public health.

But a dispute has arisen over how to select locations for landfills as the state phases in the new law over the next four years. Santa Clarita officials are fearful that a legislative compromise--scheduled to be heard today in a Senate committee--would weaken environmental reviews required for landfills such as Elsmere Canyon that were already being planned when the new law took effect in January.

Santa Clarita officials last week mounted a prominent campaign to rally residents against the dump and urged citizens to lobby state legislators on behalf of the Davis measure. As of Monday, the Natural Resources Committee had received 40 letters urging support of the bill, an amount that a committee secretary described as considerably above normal.

However, Davis said the city’s efforts were unsuccessful in the face of lobbying by BKK and Los Angeles County against his measure.

Davis called Santa Clarita city officials and local supporters “a whole bunch of nice amateurs” when it came to lobbying the Legislature.

Davis characterized the fight as a battle between the small city of Santa Clarita and the large governments of Los Angeles county and city. He said Los Angeles County “doesn’t seem to care about anything” when it comes to picking sites for dumps.

“If they could extend their jurisdiction to Yosemite, I guarantee you there would be a dump there,” Davis said.

Jack Michael, a lobbyist for the county, maintains, however, that the Davis proposal restates existing law. He said the city and county have not made any decision on whether to build the landfill, and that the dump would be subject to a complete environmental review.

“Elsmere will not fall through any cracks. . . . It’s not our intent to find a crack to push it through,” Michael said.

If the Davis bill restates existing law, “why are people spending so much time lobbying against it?” asked Tim Egan, a lobbyist for the city of Santa Clarita.

Officials of BKK could not be reached for comment.