Sacramento, California - Building on efforts to help streamline the recovery in communities impacted by California’s devastating wildfires, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued an executive order allowing the federal government to help with the initial removal of hazardous waste that poses an imminent threat to public health and safety.

The executive order allows qualified professionals at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assist state and local officials in immediately removing visible hazardous debris such as batteries, flammable liquids, asbestos siding, paint and pipe insulation from burned homes. Initial removal of these hazards helps protect public health and the environment and allows residents and cleanup crews to more safely enter properties and continue the long-term recovery efforts.