By STAFF REPORT and OLGA GRIGORYANTS

Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed a package of environmental bills including SB 1137, closely watched by communities in Southern California who live near the region’s extensive oil well fields. The new law prohibits new oil and gas wells, or major retrofitting of existing wells, within a new buffer zone of 3,200 feet between the wells and homes, schools, nursing homes and hospitals.

SB 1137 also requires companies to monitor leaks and emissions and install alarms.

BY STEPHEN HOBBS 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of environmental bills Friday, touting them as California’s most aggressive effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The measures include proposals the governor urged lawmakers to pass in the waning weeks of their legislative session. They establish clean energy targets, buffer zones around new oil and gas wells and require the state to devise regulations for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

By Leslie Berestein Rojas

One hot Sunday afternoon along Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, street vendor Cesar Benitez and his wife Margarita were doing brisk business at their aguas frescas stand, ladling their candy-colored, Mexican-style fruit drinks into cups of ice for thirsty customers.

They were among the dozens of food and non-food vendors lining the sidewalk next to the Commerce Center shopping development, which sits on the Commerce side of the border.