SB 346: Putting the brakes on urban water pollution

Over a decade of hard work and collaboration have paid off for environmental groups, water quality managers, local stormwater agencies, and the auto industry with the enactment of SB 346 by Senator Kehoe. Extensive water quality studies have shown that our urban creeks and water bodies are badly polluted with copper and other heavy metals that kill aquatic life and disrupt the growth and reproduction of fish, particularly salmon. Motor vehicle brake pads containing cadmium, chromium VI, lead, mercury, and asbestiform fibers will be phased out by January 1, 2014 and brake pads that contain more than 0.5 percent copper by January 1, 2025.