BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1330|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1330
Author: John A. Pérez (D)
Amended: 9/6/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 8-1, 6/26/13
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Corbett, Hancock, Jackson, Leno,
Pavley
NOES: Fuller
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-1, 7/3/13
AYES: Wolk, Beall, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Hernandez, Liu
NOES: Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-1, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-2, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Environmental justice
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill expands the SB 535 (De León, Chapter 830,
Statutes of 2012) statute to use California Environmental
Protection Agencys (Cal/EPAs) list of environmental justice
communities in the state of California to provide additional
financial and administrative assistance from state agencies and
local governments, and amends the Ralph M. Brown Act (Act) to
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ensure access to public meetings by limited-English-speakers.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/6/13 rewrite the Assembly version
of this bill in order to increase the coordination and
enforcement of environmental protection laws and increase
funding for environmental improvements specifically in
environmental justice communities, and remove specified
requirements for Cal/EPA.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to convene
a Working Group on Environmental Justice to assist the
secretary in developing an agency wide strategy for
identifying and addressing gaps in existing programs,
policies, or activities of the boards, departments, and
offices of Cal/EPA that may impede the achievement of
environmental justice. Requires to Cal/EPA to identify
disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities under
the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
2.Imposes administrative, civil, and criminal fines and
penalties for a violation of specified environmental laws and
establishes the maximum amount of fines and penalties.
3.Gives the responsibility and authority to a deputy to the
Secretary for Environmental Protection to, in consultation
with the Attorney General, establish a cross-media enforcement
unit to assist a board, department office, or other agency
that implements a law or regulation within the jurisdiction of
the Cal/EPA.
4.Requires the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) to
prepare, adopt, and review triennially a state hazardous
management plan that serves as a comprehensive planning
document for the state and as a useful source of information
for the public, local government, and regional councils of
government.
5.Requires the Cal/EPA to establish the Environmental Justice
Small Grant Program to provide grants to eligible community
groups that are involved in working to address environmental
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justice issues. Caps the amount of a grant at $20,000.
6.Under the Act, requires a local legislative body to provide an
opportunity for members of the public to directly address the
body concerning any item described in a notice of meeting.
The Act authorizes the legislative body to adopt reasonable
regulations limiting the total amount of time allocated for
public testimony for each individual speaker.
This bill:
1. Removes the requirements for Cal/EPA to:
A. Update the Environmental Justice Action Plan;
B. Post online, information on enforcement actions.
1. Requires the cross-media enforcement unit within Cal/EPA to
prioritize enforcement actions in environmental justice
communities.
2. Adds intent language regarding waste generation and
disposal.
3. Requires DTSC to prepare and submit to the Legislature a
hazardous waste reduction plan by January 1, 2016.
4. Creates an advisory committee to assist DTSC in the
preparation of the hazardous waste reduction plan constituted
of seven members as specified.
5. Requires double the maximum fines assessed against hazardous
waste, air district or solid waste permit holders for
emission or discharge violations that exceed permitted
emission or discharge levels in environmental justice
communities.
6. Specifies that 50% of the money collected by these
violations go to projects or grants be deposited in the Toxic
Substances Control account or the Green Zone Trust fund in
environmental justice communities as specified.
7. Increases the maximum grant from the Environmental Justice
Small Grant Program provided to non-profit entities doing
"work to address environmental justice issues" from $20,000
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to $50,000.
8. Establishes the Green Zone Trust Fund (Fund) to be spent in
environmental justice communities.
9. Provides that the establishment of the Fund should be
developed by guidelines and is exempt from the Administration
Procedures Act.
10.Defines communities "disproportionately impacted by
environmental hazards," directs Cal/EPA to establish a list
of top 15% of these communities in the state as specified and
provides that the establishment of this list is exempt from
the Administrative Procedure Act.
11.Requires Cal/EPA to create an agency-wide internet database
for ongoing complaints, enforcement cases and compliance
histories for all activities of Cal/EPA and its boards,
departments and offices, and make it publically internet
accessible.
12.Requires Cal/EPA, the Natural Resources Agency, and the
agencies' boards, departments and offices, or the Strategic
Growth Council to prioritize all grants and funding they
provide in environmental justice communities.
13.Appropriates $800,000 from the Hazardous Waste Control
Account to DTSC to prepare the Hazardous Waste Reduction
Plan.
14.Amends the Act to ensure that local agency regulations,
which may set time limits for public testimony, recognize the
need for additional time for interpreter services so that
language barriers do not result in reduced opportunities for
public testimony for some speakers.
15.Contains severability clause.
Background
According to the OEHHA, approximately eight million Californians
(21%) 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
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facility that is a significant greenhouse gas emitter (46%), but
they are disproportionately people of color (62%). Throughout
California, people of color face a 50% higher risk of cancer
from ambient concentrations of air pollutants listed under the
Clean Air Act. These impacts are felt by all Californians. The
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.
California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool
(CalEnviroScreen) . Cal/EPA and OEHHA have developed the
nation's first comprehensive screening methodology to identify
California communities that are disproportionately burdened by
multiple sources of pollution and presents the statewide results
of the analysis using the screening tool.
Cal/EPA released two public review drafts of the CalEnviroScreen
on July 30, 2012 and January 3, 2013. Public comments on the
draft reports were received at a series of regional and
stakeholder-specific workshops held throughout the state, an
Academic Expert Panel workshop, at two meetings of the
Cumulative Impacts and Precautionary Approaches Work Group, and
in written comments from the public.
CalEnviroScreen is meant to be used primarily to assist Cal/EPA
and its boards, departments, and office in carrying out its
environmental justice mission: to conduct its activities in a
manner that ensures the fair treatment of all Californians,
including minority and low-income populations. CalEnviroScreen
is the next step in the implementation of Cal/EPA's 2004
Environmental Justice Action Plan, which called for the
development of guidance to analyze the impacts of multiple
pollution sources in California communities.
The initial drafts show which portions of the state have higher
pollution burdens and vulnerabilities than other areas, and
therefore are most in need of assistance. In a time of limited
resources, it will provide meaningful insight into how decision
makers can focus available time, resources, and programs to
improve the environmental health of Californians, particularly
those most burdened by pollution. The tool uses existing
environmental, health, demographic and socioeconomic data to
create a screening score for communities across the state. An
area with a high score would be expected to experience much
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higher impacts than areas with low scores.
Cal/EPA and OEHHA are committed to revising the tool in the
future, in an open and public process, as new information
becomes available in order to make the tool as meaningful and as
current as possible. Over the next several years, Cal/EPA plans
to refine the tool by considering additional indicators,
modifying the geographic scale, enhancing the current
indicators, and reassessing the tool's methodology. In addition,
Cal/EPA will look for new ways to ensure the tool is accessible
and comprehensible to the public.
Prior Legislation
SB 535 (De Leon, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012) requires Cal/EPA
to identify disadvantaged communities for investment
opportunities using the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
SB 89 (Escutia, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2000) requires Cal/EPA
to convene the Working Group and develop an agency-wide
environmental justice strategy.
SB 828 (Alarcon, Chapter 765, Statutes of 2001) establishes a
timeline for the requirements of SB 89, and requires Cal/EPA to
update its report to the Legislature every three years. (In
October of 2004, Cal/EPA released its Environmental Justice
Action Plan; however, Cal/EPA has never completed the required
updates.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Ongoing costs of at least $600,000 from various special funds
for database changes, hardware, and personnel.
A onetime appropriation of $800,000 to the Department of Toxic
Substances Control (DTSC) from the Hazardous Waste Control
Account (special) to develop the hazardous waste reduction
plan and to make related necessary changes to DTSC policies or
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regulations.
Unknown ongoing costs, likely in the mid-hundreds of thousands
of dollars from the Hazardous Waste Control Account for DTSC's
implementation of the hazardous waste reduction plan.
Ongoing costs in the low-hundreds of thousands of dollars from
the Hazardous Waste Control Account to participate and support
in the Hazardous Waste Reduction Advisory Committee.
Unknown increased revenues from increased fines and penalties
to the Toxic Substances Control Account (General) as a result
of the doubling of maximum penalties and fines, and must be
used to fund environmentally beneficial projects located
within an environmental justice community.
Unknown administrative costs to Cal/EPA to administer the
Environmental Justice Small Grant Program and the funding of
the Green Zone Environmental projects, including the
development of guidelines for designating Green Zone
Environmental Projects.
Unknown annual costs, likely in the low- to mid-hundreds of
thousands of dollars, to Cal/EPA to identify Environmental
Justice Communities.
One-time costs in the mid-hundreds of thousands of dollars
from various special funds to develop regulations regarding
the automatic revocation of a facility permits for a facility
located in an environmental justice community that has had
three separate violations within a five-year period that
threaten the public health or the environment.
Possible reimbursable state mandate in the tens to hundreds of
thousands of dollars regarding public meeting and outreach
requirements for local governments.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/13)
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American Association of University Women
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Breathe California
California Environmental Justice Alliance
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice
Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment
Central Basin Municipal Water District
Communities for a Better Environment
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Health Coalition
People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-2, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John
A. Pérez
NOES: Donnelly, Mansoor
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bloom, Holden, Waldron, Vacancy
RM:d:n 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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