Proposed legislation that would prohibit the sale or transfer of Boeing Co.'s Santa Susana Field Laboratory unless the contaminated site is cleaned to the strictest standards has gained some behind-the-scenes momentum.

SB990 is the latest in a string of legislation Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has drafted in an effort to ensure the former rocket-engine and nuclear test site is cleaned to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's highest standards. Three of the bills failed in the Assembly, and one died in the Senate.

But Kuehl's most recent bill has more momentum than its predecessors, observers say.

It has garnered the support of the city of Simi Valley, which is just north of the 2,850-acre facility, as well as the counties of Ventura and Los Angeles and the cities of Los Angeles and Hidden Hills. It is the first time Simi Valley has officially backed one of Kuehl's bills related to the Field Laboratory.

Boeing, the California Chamber of Commerce and the not-for-profit California Space Authority are among the entities that oppose Kuehl's bill.

But Boeing Co. spokeswoman Blythe Jameson said the company is committed to cleaning up the site.

"SB990 singles out the property that we've had in a long-standing environmental remediation effort," Jameson said, later adding that company representatives have met with Assembly members about the bill.

So, too, has Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica. She will serve as the bill's floor manager if the proposed legislation makes it out of the Appropriation Committee's suspense file, a holding pen for bills with an estimated cost to state government greater than $150,000. The bills chosen as priorities are sent to the floor.

Brownley has met with a number of her colleagues on the proposed legislation and said the response has been positive.

"I'm confident the votes are there in terms of it moving on the floor," Brownley said. "What I really want is my Republican colleagues to be in support of this. It sends a strong message to the governor that this is something that is regionally based."

Two legislators could be keys

The support of Assembly members Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, and Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita, is seen as key. Their districts include portions of the city of Simi Valley, which sits at the base of the hill where the former rocket-engine and nuclear testing facility is located.

Neither Assembly member has made a decision. Strickland began maternity leave Friday, and, while she would not be available for a possible vote, her chief of staff, Joel Angeles, said, she would share her opinion with her colleagues and the governor.

"Mrs. Strickland believes there should be no compromise to the safety of the people in and around the Santa Susana Field Laboratory," Angeles said.

Angeles said Strickland is working with Kuehl and Brownley's offices to "ensure cleanup is the focus and there is no delay in the cleanup." But she has not yet decided to support or oppose the bill.

Smyth said he spent much of his summer recess getting up to speed on the issue, touring the facility and meeting with people on both sides of the measure.

"I think SB990 is a good bill," Smyth said. "I want to make sure it accomplishes all the things everyone wants before I commit to supporting it."

Watchdog group backs bill

Dan Hirsch, co-founder of the nuclear watchdog group Committee to Bridge the Gap, accompanied Brownley on her rounds to discuss the bill.

"When people sit down and hear it, they are amazed each time," he said about what has happened at the Field Laboratory over the years, including the partial meltdown of a sodium-cooled nuclear reactor in 1959.

"Without this bill, the Department of Energy will be free to walk away from the radioactive contamination it's created and permit homes to be built on top," Hirsch said.

The Energy Department oversees the cleanup of radioactive contamination at the site, where it contracted with the lab entities to conduct nuclear research. California's Department of Toxic Substances Control oversees the cleanup of chemical contamination. If the bill is approved, the Toxic Substances department would be responsible for certifying the Field Lab underwent a complete cleanup.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill because it would impose requirements on the cleanup, conversion and transfer of the land that are unnecessary, spokesman Vince Sollitto said.

"There are already existing standards and statutes about how to clean up and transfer ownership at sites such as these," Sollitto said. "This is a state attempt to inject itself into what is a local land-use issue."

Whether the bill will make it to the floor of the Assembly should be known by the end of this week. Kuehl said conversations have already started with the governor's office.

"The next step looks very good," she said.