Governor plans to veto environmental rules bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he will veto a bill by Democratic lawmakers that aims to stop the Trump administration from weakening environmental laws.

The Democratic governor's announcement Saturday comes just hours after lawmakers passed the bill on the final day of the legislative session. It puts him in conflict with state Senate leader Toni Atkins, a fellow Democrat and the bill's author.

Newsom says he supports the idea of fighting Trump's environmental rollbacks.

But he says the bill won't give the state "any new authority" to push back against the administration. And he says the bill would keep the state from relying on the "best available science." His office says it could force the state to rely on Endangered Species Act opinions written roughly a decade ago.

Atkins says she's "strongly disappointed" by Newsom's decision. She says the bill allowed state agencies to make decisions using the best available science.