BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1330
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1330 (John A. Perez) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Environmental Protection
Agency (CalEPA) to update its environmental justice strategy.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CalEPA, with the assistance of a defined working
group, to 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.
2)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.
3)Sunsets the above requirements on July 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Administrative costs to CalEPA of approximately $200,000 to
update its agency-wide strategy.
2)Additional unknown costs, potentially in excess of $100,000
for public outreach to identify and address gaps in existing
CalEPA programs and activities.
COMMENTS
1)Background. According to the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, approximately 8 million Californians live
AB 1330
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in zip codes considered to be- "highly impacted" by
environmental, public health and socio-economic factors.
Throughout California, people of color face a 50 % higher risk
of cancer from concentrations of air pollutants listed under
the Clean Air Act.
Environmental justice refers to the fair treatment of people
of all races, cultures and income with respect to the
development, adoption, implementation and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations and policies.
2)Purpose. According to the author, this bill is intended to
address environmental justice issues by requiring CalEPA to
update its 2004 environmental justice strategy plan and
include any additional issues discovered since then. This
bill is also intended to assist the environmental community in
participating in government decision making by providing
important information on environmental violations and
histories of regulatory noncompliance online.
This bill revises the local government opening meeting law to
assist non-English speakers who require translation by not
counting it toward the speaker's total allotted time.
3) Environmental Justice Plan. In 2000, SB 89 (Chapter 728,
Statutes of 2000) required CalEPA to convene a working group
on environmental justice to assist in developing an
agency-wide strategy to identify and address activities that
may impede the achievement of environmental justice.
Subsequent legislation (SB 828, Chapter 765, Statutes of
2001) established a timeline and required CalEPA to update its
report every three years. CalEPA finally released its
Environmental Justice Plan in 2004 but has never completed the
required updates.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081