BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1330
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Date of Hearing: April 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 1330 (Pérez) - As Introduced: February 22, 2013
SUBJECT : Environmental justice
SUMMARY : Requires the California Protection Agency (CalEPA) to
update its environmental justice strategy and report related
information to the Governor and the Legislature.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines "environmental justice" to mean the fair treatment of
people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the
development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
2)Requires CalEPA to:
a) Conduct its programs, policies, and activities, and
enforce all health and environmental statutes within its
jurisdiction in a manner that ensures the fair treatment of
people of all races, cultures, and income levels, including
minority and low-income populations.
b) Convene a Working Group on Environmental Justice
(Working Group) comprised of the Secretary for
Environmental Protection, the Chairs of the Air Resources
Board (ARB), the California Integrated Waste Management
Board (now CalRecycle), the State Water Resources Control
Board, the Director of Toxic Substances Control, the
Director of Pesticide Regulation, the Director of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Director of
Planning and Research. The Working Group has been tasked
with examining existing data and studies on environmental
justice and recommending policies for implementation by
CalEPA.
c) No later than July 1, 2002, adopt an agency-wide
strategy for identifying and addressing gaps in existing
programs, policies, or activities of CalEPA's boards,
departments, and offices that may impede the achievement of
environmental justice.
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d) No later than January 1, 2004, and every three years
thereafter, prepare and submit a report to the Governor and
the Legislature on the implementation of these
requirements.
3)Establishes the Environmental Justice Small Grant Program,
administered by CalEPA, to award funds to community-based,
grassroots nonprofit organizations serving communities
adversely impacted by environmental justice issues.
4)Names the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) as the
coordinating agency in state government for environmental
justice programs.
5)Pursuant to open meeting requirements, requires the
legislative body of a city, county, or state agency to:
a) During regular meetings, provide an opportunity for a
member of the public to address the legislative body on any
item of interest to the public, before or during the
legislative body's consideration of that item;
b) During special meetings, provide an opportunity for a
member of the public to address the legislative body
concerning any item described in the notice of the special
meeting, before or during consideration of that item; and,
c) Not prohibit public criticism of the policies,
procedures, programs, or services of the agency, or of the
acts or omissions of the legislative body.
6)Requires CalEPA to identify disadvantaged communities based on
geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and environmental
hazard criteria for investment opportunities using the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (i.e., cap-and-trade action
revenues).
THIS BILL :
1)States numerous findings and declarations relating to the
current statutory requirements for environmental justice and
the administration's implementation of those requirements.
2)Requires CalEPA, with the assistance of the Working Group, to
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periodically revise and update the agency-wide strategy
developed in 2004 to address any additional gaps in existing
programs, policies, or activities that impede the achievement
of environmental justice.
3)On or before July 1, 2014, requires the Secretary of CalEPA to
submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on the
implementation of this bill.
4)Sunsets the above requirements on July 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background . According to the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), approximately 8 million
Californians (21 percent) live in zip codes that are
considered "highly impacted" by environmental, public health,
and socioeconomic stressors. Nearly half of all Californians
live within six miles of a facility that is a significant
greenhouse gas emitter (46 percent), but they are
disproportionately people of color (62 percent). Throughout
California, people of color face a 50 percent higher risk of
cancer from ambient concentrations of air pollutants listed
under the Clean Air Act. These impacts are felt by all
Californians. ARB estimates that air pollution exposure
accounts for 19,000 premature deaths, 280,000 cases of asthma,
and 1.9 million lost work days every year.
In 2000, legislation [SB 89 (Escutia), Chapter 728] required
CalEPA to convene the Environmental Justice Working Group and
develop an agency-wide environmental justice strategy. In
2001, follow up legislation [SB 828 (Alarcon), Chapter 765]
established a timeline for these requirements and required
CalEPA to update its report to the Legislature every three
years. In October of 2004, CalEPA released its Environmental
Justice Action Plan; however, the agency has never completed
the required updates.
In 2012, SB 535 (De Leon), Chapter 830 required CalEPA to
identify disadvantaged communities for investment
opportunities using the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Pursuant to this requirement, OEHHA has developed the
California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool
(CalEnviroScreen) that will use existing environmental,
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health, and socioeconomic data to determine the extent to
which communities across the state are burdened by and
vulnerable to pollution. OEHHA states that the results
generated by CalEnviroScreen are not intended to assign
responsibility for any issues identified. The intent is to
provide information that enables the state to focus time,
resources, and programs on areas that are in the greatest need
of assistance.
2)This bill . AB 1330 requires CalEPA to keep the Legislature
and the Governor apprised of environmental justice activities
throughout California. This bill is also intended to ensure
that all Californians that wish to participate in the public
process are given an equal opportunity to do so and that
information relating to previous violations and enforcement
activities of regulated entities is available to the public.
3)Suggested amendments : In order to more fully meet the goals
of the bill and to increase public participation for
non-English speakers at public meetings, the author may wish
to amend the bill as follows:
a) Specify that, under the Government Code requirements
relating to open meetings, when a non-English speaker uses
a translator in a public meeting, the time used by the
translator to translate the speaker's comments does not
count toward the speaker's allotted speaking time.
b) Require each board, department, or office within CalEPA
to maintain a public database on its website of its ongoing
enforcement cases, to the extent that the information on
the database would normally be available through a public
records act request, and compliance histories of its
regulated entities that have committed violations focused
on information related to how the entities rectified the
violation.
c) Add related legislative intent language.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Association of University Women - California
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Breathe California
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California Environmental Justice Alliance
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice
Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092