BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Senator Wieckowski, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 1062 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Bonta | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |-----------+-----------------------+-------------+----------------| |Version: |4/7/2015 |Hearing |7/1/2015 | | | |Date: | | |-----------+-----------------------+-------------+----------------| |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Rachel Machi Wagoner | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Environmental Justice Small Grant Program ANALYSIS: Existing law: Establishes the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Environmental Justice Small Grant Program to provide grants to eligible community groups that are located in areas adversely affected by environmental pollution and hazards and that are involved in work to address environmental justice issues. 1) Grants are awarded on a competitive basis for projects that are based in communities with the most significant exposure to pollution. They are limited to purposes of resolving environmental problems through information, improving coordination among public agencies and stakeholders, expanding community understanding about environmental issues, developing guidance on environmental risks, promoting community involvement, and using data to enhance community understanding and decision-making. 2) Grants cannot be used for other state grant programs, lobbying or advocacy activities, litigation, funding of lawsuits, or for opposing technical assessments prepared by a public agency. 3) The maximum amount of a grant shall not exceed $50,000, and authorizes the Secretary for CalEPA to expend up to $1.5 AB 1062 (Bonta) Page 2 of ? million per year for the program. 4) Authorizes CalEPA to allocate funds from various special funds, settlements, and penalties to implement this program. This bill: 1)Allows grants awarded under the Program to include physical projects, including planning, engineering and construction, monitoring or filtering technology, and environmental assessments that improve the environment or the environmental health of the community, or that address a specific environmental justice need. 2)Requires CalEPA to expend not less than $5 million per year for environmental justice grants. Requires each board, department, or office within CalEPA to allocate appropriated funds from special funds, settlements, and penalties to implement this program. Background 1) CalEPA Environmental Justice Small Grants. This grant program was established in 2002. Grants are available to help eligible non-profit community groups/organizations and federally recognized Tribal governments address environmental justice issues in areas adversely affected by environmental pollution and hazards. In 2013, $249,175 was awarded through Environmental Justice Small Grants projects. A minimum of $250,000 in grant funds was made available for the 2015/2016 grant cycle. SB 861 (Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 35, Statutes of 2014) increased the maximum grant from $20,000 to $50,000 and authorized CalEPA to expend up to $1.5 million annually for the program. The stated goals of the program include: a) Improve access to safe and clean water; AB 1062 (Bonta) Page 3 of ? b) Reduce potential for exposure to pesticides and toxic chemicals; c) Promote community capacity building and improve communities' and tribes' understanding of the technical and procedural aspects of environmental decision making; d) Promote the development of community-based research that protects and enhances public health and the environment; and, e) Address cumulative impact through collaboration between community-based organizations and local government. 2)Environmental Justice in California. Environmental justice is 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. According to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), approximately 8 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 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 Air Resources Board 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. Comments AB 1062 (Bonta) Page 4 of ? 3)Purpose of Bill. According to the author, "AB 1062 will help provide our most vulnerable communities of color with the tools they need to fight against environmental health hazards in their communities, greatly reducing their quality of life. "AB 1062 will ensure EJ Small Grants will be continuously funded. It will require the Boards, Departments, and Agencies to contribute to the grant program to ensure there is a CalEPA-wide contribution. "The bill will also add one additional grant objective to the program: implementation of physical projects that address environmental justice issues, such as planning for open-space in park-poor areas or installation of air filters to address poor air quality." 1) Should this be a discussion as part of the State Budget? This bill requires CalEPA to expend no less than $5 million annually through the Environmental Justice Small Grants program from unspecified special funds, settlements and penalties of the CalEPA boards, departments and offices. Where is this $5 million coming from? How is each board, department and office expected to meet this mandate? What programs and other statutory mandates may go underfunded as a result of an administrative reappropriation of funds? Annually the budgets of CalEPA and each of these boards, departments and offices are legislatively apportioned according to funding and need to fulfill mandates through the State Budget. How does this bill interact with that process? As the 2015-2016 Budget was just approved for the state, how will this impact this budget and future year's budgets? If it is the will of the Legislature to take funding appropriated for other programs, why is this done through the Budget? This bill appears to imply that there is surplus funding among the CalEPA boards, departments and offices that are not currently being fully utilized or it implies that this grant program is a better use. It is unclear, without identifying which funds and programs would specifically be impacted, how this would impact other statutory mandates. AB 1062 (Bonta) Page 5 of ? 2) Is this the appropriate source of funding? As mentioned in the previous comment, the special funds, settlements and penalties of each of the CalEPA boards, departments and offices go to statutory mandates such as regulation and enforcement of the programs they are each responsible for - would this bill take away from those mandated responsibilities and if so would it be more appropriate to identify a different source of funding or alternately create a new source of funding for this priority? Related/Prior Legislation SB 535 (de León, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012) requires 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 uses existing environmental, 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. SB 89 (Escutia, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2000) requires CalEPA to convene the Environmental Justice Working Group and develop an agency-wide environmental justice strategy. Follow-up legislation, SB 828 (Alarcon, Chapter 765, Statutes of 2001), 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. SOURCE: Asian Pacific Environmental Network California Environmental Justice Alliance SUPPORT: Alameda County Board of Supervisors Asian Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance California Catholic Conference of Bishops AB 1062 (Bonta) Page 6 of ? California Coastal Protection Network California Equity Leaders Network California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) Catholic Charities, Diocese of Stockton Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment Central Coast Alliance United for Sustainable Economy City Heights Community Development Corporation Clean Water Action Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice Coalition for Clean Air Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation Communities for a Better Environment Community Water Center Environmental Action Committee of West Marin Environmental Health Coalition Environmental Justice Coalition for Water Environmental Working Group Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES) Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM) Greater Pasadena Jews for Justice (GPJJ) Inland Congregations United for Change Leadership Counsel for Accountability and Justice Los Angeles Waterkeeper MAAC National Parks Conservation Association Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Pacific Isle Environmental Reserve (PIER) Pacoima Beautiful People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights (PODER) People's CORE Pesticide Action Network, North America Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles Physicians for Social Responsibility-San Francisco Bay Area Regional Asthma Management and Prevention San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council (SDICLC) Sierra Club California The City Project Trust for Public Land Valley Clean Air Now Warehouse Worker Resource Center AB 1062 (Bonta) Page 7 of ? OPPOSITION: None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to supporters of AB 1062, "Across California, low-income communities of color face a range of pollution burdens, from poor air quality and related environmental health illnesses, to contaminated drinking water to hazardous clean-up sites. AB 1062 will provide much-needed, permanent source of funding for community solutions to these challenges. In doing so, it will give CalEPA a dependable vehicle to provide direct benefits to low-income communities and communities of color overburdened with pollution." -- END --