Two California legislators reintroduced a bill Monday that would allow San Francisco to operate a supervised safe injection site for illicit drug users.

The bill, AB362, was authored by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, and co-authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. It’s the second time the duo have worked together to launch a safe injection pilot program in San Francisco. A similar bill they co-authored was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, but Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he is receptive to the idea of a safe injection site.

If passed, it would allow San Francisco to operate a safe injection site for three years in an effort to further the city’s public health goals, coax addicts into treatment and tamp down on the rampant open-air drug use that has pervaded the city’s streets and sidewalks.

“The status quo isn’t working,” Wiener said in a statement. “People are injecting drugs whether or not we intervene. They’re injecting on our sidewalks and parks, in transit stations and alleyways, and on people’s front steps.”

While Eggman and Wiener’s bill would sanction a safe injection site at the state level, opening one would still remain illegal under federal law, which prohibits “maintaining or providing access” to any space where illegal drugs are used. Safe injection sites provide a safe place and clean equipment to shoot up with but don’t offer the illicit substances themselves.

Nevertheless, Federal law enforcement officials within the Trump administration have made their opposition to safe injection sites clear.

Last year, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to reiterate the administration’s stance, calling safe injection sites “very dangerous” and liable to “only make the opioid crisis worse.”

“Because federal law clearly prohibits injection sites, cities and counties should expect the Department of Justice to meet the opening of any injection site with swift and aggressive action,” Rosenstein wrote. That could leave government officials and health care professionals open to prosecution for operating a site.

The legislation comes just four months after former Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure, saying that he would not sign a bill that didn’t include mandates that drug users undergo treatment.

In his veto message, Brown said that “enabling illegal and destructive drug use will never work. The community must have the authority and the laws to require compassionate but effective and mandatory treatment.”

On the campaign trail, however, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was “very, very open” to a pilot program in San Francisco.

Mayor London Breed has been among the most prominent advocates for opening a safe injection site in San Francisco, going so far as to promote a mock facility intended to give residents a tactile tour of what such a place would look and feel like.

Safe injection sites have existed for years in Canada, Europe and Australia. Advocates have long maintained that allowing drug users to shoot up under clinical supervision can virtually eliminate overdose deaths, curb the spread of infectious diseases, administer basic health care and provide access to addiction-treatment services when people are ready to get clean.

“San Francisco has a long history of pushing the envelope on progressive public health solutions, including medical cannabis and needle exchange, before either was legal or broadly embraced,” Wiener said. “With AB362, San Francisco, once again, can lead the way on progressive change for our community and for all of California.”

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa