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California could be first in the nation to create smoke-damage standards
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Bass, Raman state their cases on environmental issues at mayoral forum
By Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatters
By City News Service
This story was originally published by CalMatters.
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wo smoke-damage bills awaiting the governor’s signature address a longstanding issue brought to the fore by the Los Angeles County fires: When is it safe for wildfire survivors to move back into their homes? After the deadly January 2025 fires, which destroyed more than 16,000 structures, the state Insurance Department estimates that more than 13,000 out of 40,000 claims involved smoke damage. The fires burned for nearly a month. Debris and emissions contained a mixture of trees, brush and manufactured materials made up of plastics, metals and more — raising concerns about toxic contents left in homes that are still standing but may be dangerous to live in. Many survivors with homes that did not burn down have yet to return to them 21 months later. Their homes reeked of smoke and they found ash, soot and char inside. They await test results for things such as lead and asbestos. They wait for homes to be repaired, cleaned up and cleared of toxic materials after months of back-and-forth with their insurance companies. Along the way, fire survivors, experts and insurers have all pointed to the lack of standards around smoke damage. Assembly Bill 1642 will set “a first-in-the-nation standard for testing and
Gil Barel in her son’s room in Pasadena on Aug. 2. Barel and her family are still waiting for their home, a duplex they had rented for eight years before the January 2025 Eaton Fire, to be cleaned up and free of toxic materials before they move back in. | Photo courtesy of Ariana Drehsler/CalMatters
remediation,” said Assemblymember John Harabedian, a Pasadena Democrat, about the bill he authored. Remediation is the removal of contaminants or hazards, and fixing possible ill effects. The bill passed in conjunction with Assembly Bill 1795, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Gardena Democrat. Gipson’s legislation will incorporate the new standards and require insurance companies to abide by them. The governor has until the end of the month to sign both bills; one cannot become law without the other. “We were hearing from survivors that they weren’t getting a fair shake from their insurance companies,” Harabedian told CalMatters.
“Kudos to survivor groups that worked with us on this. We hope others don’t have to go through what they went through.” The bills are just two of several pieces of legislation to come out of the Eaton and Palisades fires meant to set clearer standards, hold insurers accountable and improve the recovery process after a wildfire. Smoke damage figures prominently in lawsuits and legal actions against two big insurers in California: State Farm, which insures about 20% of the state’s property insurance market, and the last-resort FAIR Plan. The insurance department has accused both of delaying
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and denying smoke-damage claims. Los Angeles County sued State Farm last week, alleging unfair business practices in its handling of claims from the 2025 fires. The lawsuit cited the findings of the insurance department’s investigation, including that the company denied or discouraged requests for environmental testing and refused to reimburse policyholders for testing they paid for themselves. Also among the allegations was that for standing homes, the company sent preferred restoration companies that typically “offered an inadequate and unsafe cleaning method.”
See Smoke-damage Page 05
ayor Karen Bass and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman shared their views on the environment and climate during a forum last week, with the incumbent describing herself as a champion of environmental justice, and her challenger saying City Hall needs to do more. The two candidates battling for the mayor's office took part in a forum on the evening of Sept. 3 organized by a coalition of environmental justice, climate, labor, public health and community organizations. Local organizations included the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, SCOPE LA, Sierra Club, Los Angeles Neighborhood Sustainability Alliance, Communities for a Better Environment and Clean and Healthy California. Bass and Raman spoke separately during the forum, fielding questions about issues such as environmental justice, extreme heat, air pollution, oil drilling, rising energy costs, housing affordability, public safety, emergency response and community health. "I have devoted my entire adult life to working in inner-city communities, which is why environmental justice is such a critical issue," Bass said during the forum moderated by LAist senior reporter Erin Stone. "I have a background in health, which is why enviSee Mayoral forum Page 31
ronmental justice, and to me, (environmental justice) is also a health issue, and it's an economic issue." Bass touted what she called a history of fighting for the environmental health of communities while serving in the state Assembly and in Congress. And she said she has continued that fight during her time as mayor. "The last two years alone, we have had ... 100,000 new green jobs," she said. "We soon are going to have by 2028, our entire city bus fleet will be electric. We are coal free. We're one of the few cities in the nation that is coal free, and we have 160 new electric buses right now. "I regularly interact with international and national leaders and I want to assure you, we have an international and a national reputation for our work on environmental concerns." She said her focus going forward will be "on the communities that are disproportionately impacted by greenhouse gasses and by the environment, impacted economically, impacted in a health way." Raman, who is looking to unseat Bass in November, countered that she believes City Hall has not done enough to respond to environmental concerns. "Our transition to clean energy has slowed," she said. "Efforts to build a resilient water supply, close