Senate leader criticizes Schwarzenegger for water agency problems

Don Thompson
San Jose Mercury
11/12/2007

SACRAMENTO—State Senate leader Don Perata criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday for understaffing at two agencies he said should be playing key roles in the San Francisco Bay oil spill response.

The California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, named by Schwarzenegger to lead the state's cleanup effort, has remained understaffed despite a recent increase in the tax on oil that pays for the little-known office, said Perata, D-Oakland.

In addition, Perata said Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have made it easier to appoint members to regional water boards. Perata said San Francisco's regional board has so few members that it cannot even meet to consider what to do about the oil spill.

Schwarzenegger said in his veto message last month that his administration needs to study problems with the various regional water boards around the state before he acts.

Perata said he will reintroduce legislation next year that is designed to assist the regional boards. The bill Schwarzenegger vetoed would have reduced the size of the boards and changed qualifications, making it easier to appoint members.

Perata also cited a 2005 audit by the state Department of Finance that found problems with the state's oil spill response office.

He said Schwarzenegger failed to quickly fill 34 positions despite the audit's recommendations and despite an increase in the office's funding in 2002.

"The governor is not doing his job," Perata said in a statement.

Schwarzenegger's office did not immediately respond to Perata's criticisms.

The Office of Spill Prevention and Response initially was allowed to hire 19 more employees and is adding another seven this year to bring the total to 218 permanent staff members, said Lisa Curtis, who is in charge of the office.

The latest employees will allow the office to participate in oil spill drills and exercises with shipping and cleanup companies.

Curtis said her office sought the 2002 law that raised the tax from 4 cents to 5 cents on each barrel of oil that passes through California waters. The money pays for the office's annual $35 million operating budget.

The spill of 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay is giving the office its first large-scale test since it was created in 1990, when an oil tanker leaked 400,000 gallons of Alaskan crude off the coast of Huntington Beach.

The office, a division of the California Department of Fish and Game, is charged with ensuring that each ship coming into California waters has a spill-prevention and cleanup plan.

The office also administers a $54 million cleanup fund, maintained through a tax on oil passing through California waters. The fund is tapped only if no shipping company can be found liable for a spill.