BILL NUMBER: AB 1062 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 71116 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to environmental justice.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1062, as introduced, Bonta. Environmental Justice Small Grant
Program.
Existing law establishes the Environmental Justice Small Grant
Program under the jurisdiction of the California Environmental
Protection Agency, and prescribes specific criteria and procedures
for the implementation of the program. Existing law requires that
grants be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that are based
in communities with the most significant exposure to pollution, and
limits grants to be used for specified purposes relating to, among
other things, resolving environmental problems, promoting
coordination among public agencies and stakeholders, developing
guidance on environmental risks, and facilitating and encouraging
community understanding and decisionmaking that affects the
environment of a community.
This bill would additionally include the implementation, including
planning, engineering, significant infrastructure improvements, and
constructing, of physical projects that improve the environment or
the environmental health of the community, or that address a specific
environmental justice need, among the purposes for which a grant may
be awarded.
Existing law provides that the maximum amount of a grant shall not
exceed $50,000, and authorizes the Secretary for Environmental
Protection to expend up to $1,500,000 per year for the grant program.
This bill would require each board, department, office, or other
entity within the agency, except as provided, to expend an amount
equal to not less than 1% of its annual operating budget for the
award of grants pursuant to the program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 71116 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
71116. (a) The Environmental Justice Small Grant Program is
hereby established under the jurisdiction of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. The California Environmental
Protection Agency shall adopt regulations for the implementation of
this section. These regulations shall include, but need not be
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Specific criteria and procedures for the implementation of the
program.
(2) A requirement that each grant recipient submit a written
report to the agency documenting its expenditures of the grant funds
and the results of the funded project.
(3) Provisions promoting the equitable distribution of grant funds
in a variety of areas throughout the state, with the goal of making
grants available to organizations that will attempt to address
environmental justice issues.
(b) The purpose of the program is to provide grants to eligible
community groups, including, but not limited to, community-based,
grassroots nonprofit organizations that are located in areas
adversely affected by environmental pollution and hazards and that
are involved in work to address environmental justice issues.
(c) (1) Both of the following are eligible to receive moneys from
the fund:
(A) A nonprofit entity.
(B) A federally recognized tribal government.
(2) For the purposes of this section, "nonprofit entity" means any
corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization
that meets all of the following criteria:
(A) Is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service,
charitable, or other similar purposes in the public interest.
(B) Is not organized primarily for profit.
(C) Uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand, or any
combination thereof, its operations.
(D) Is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
federal Internal Revenue Code, or is able to provide evidence to the
agency that the state recognizes the organization as a nonprofit
entity.
(3) For the purposes of this section, "nonprofit entity"
specifically excludes an organization that is a tax-exempt
organization under Section 501(c)(4) of the federal Internal Revenue
Code.
(d) Individuals may not receive grant moneys from the fund.
(e) Grant recipients shall use the grant award to fund only the
project described in the recipient's application. Recipients shall
not use the grant funding to shift moneys from existing or proposed
projects to activities for which grant funding is prohibited under
subdivision (g).
(f) Grants shall be awarded on a competitive basis for projects
that are based in communities with the most significant exposure to
pollution. Grants shall be limited to any of the following purposes
and no other:
(1) Resolve environmental problems through distribution of
information.
(2) Identify improvements in communication and coordination among
agencies and stakeholders in order to address the most significant
exposure to pollution.
(3) Expand the understanding of a community about the
environmental issues that affect their community.
(4) Develop guidance on the relative significance of various
environmental risks.
(5) Promote community involvement in the decisionmaking process
that affects the environment of the community.
(6) Present environmental data for the purposes of enhancing
community understanding of environmental information systems and
environmental information.
(7) Implement, including planning, engineering, significant
infrastructure improvements, and constructing, physical projects that
improve the environment or the environmental health of the
community, or that address a specific environmental justice need in
the community.
(g) (1) The agency shall not award grants for, and grant funding
shall not be used for, any of the following:
(A) Other state grant programs.
(B) Lobbying or advocacy activities relating to any federal,
state, regional, or local legislative, quasi-legislative,
adjudicatory, or quasi-judicial proceeding involving development or
adoption of statutes, guidelines, rules, regulations, plans or any
other governmental proposal, or involving decisions concerning
siting, permitting, licensing, or any other governmental action.
(C) Litigation, administrative challenges, enforcement action, or
any type of adjudicatory proceeding.
(D) Funding of a lawsuit against any governmental entity.
(E) Funding of a lawsuit against a business or a project owned by
a business.
(F) Matching state or federal funding.
(G) Performance of any technical assessment for purposes of
opposing or contradicting a technical assessment prepared by a public
agency.
(2) An organization's use of funds from a grant awarded under this
section to educate a community regarding an environmental justice
issue or a governmental process does not preclude that organization
from subsequent lobbying or advocacy concerning that same issue or
governmental process, as long as the lobbying or advocacy is not
funded by a grant awarded under this section.
(h) The agency shall review, evaluate, and select grant
recipients, and screen grant applications to ensure that they meet
the requirements of this section.
(i) The maximum amount of a grant provided pursuant to this
section may not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
(j) For the purposes of this section, "environmental justice" has
the same meaning as defined in Section 65040.12 of the Government
Code.
(k) The Secretary for Environmental Protection may expend up to
one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) per year for
the purposes of this section.
( l ) Board, departments, and offices within the
California Environmental Protection Agency may allocate funds from
various special funds, settlements, and penalties
to implement this program.
(m) (1) Each board, department, office, or other entity within the
California Environmental Protection Agency shall expend an amount
equal to not less than 1 percent of its annual operating budget for
grants awarded pursuant to this section.
(2) This subdivision does not apply to a certified local program
agency, a local or regional air pollution control district, or a
regional water quality control board.