"Paint companies that want Californians to pay for lead cleanup are close to getting measure on ballot"

LAT:

The three companies, ConAgra, NL Industries and Sherwin-Williams, announced Thursday that they have started to submit more than 680,000 signatures to ensure their initiative appears on the ballot. The companies’ plan would eliminate a court order for them to pay an estimated $700 million to clean up lead paint. It would replace it with a $2-billion taxpayer-funded bond to finance the cleanup of lead, mold and other hazardous materials.