BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1330 Page 1 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. AB 1330 Page 2 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 AB 1330 Page 3 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, AB 1330 Page 4 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 AB 1330 Page 5 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