BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1071
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1071
(Atkins) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Supplemental environmental projects
SUMMARY: Requires each board, department, and office within the
California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to establish
a policy on supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) that
benefits environmental justice communities.
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)Defines "environmental justice community" as a community
identified by CalEPA based on geographic, socioeconomic,
public health, and environmental hazard criteria, including:
a) Areas disproportionately affected by environmental
pollution and other hazards that can lead to negative
public health effects, exposure, or environmental
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degradation; and,
b) Areas with concentrations of people that are of low
income, high unemployment, low levels of homeownership,
high rent burden, sensitive populations, or low levels of
educational attainment.
3)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 of CalEPA, the
Chairs of the Air Resources Board (ARB), the California
Integrated Waste Management Board (now CalRecycle), the
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the Director
of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the
Director of the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR),
the Director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA), and the Director of the Office of
Planning and Research (OPR). Requires the Working Group to
examine existing data and studies on environmental justice
and recommending policies for implementation by CalEPA;
recommend criteria to the Secretary of CalEPA for
identifying and addressing any gaps in existing programs,
policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of
environmental justice; and, hold public meetings to receive
and respond to public comments prior to the finalization of
the recommendations.
c) Requires each board, department, and office within
CalEPA to review its programs, policies, and activities and
identify and address any gaps in its existing programs,
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policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of
environmental justice.
4)Names OPR as the coordinating agency in state government for
environmental justice programs.
THIS BILL:
1)Defines SEP as an environmentally beneficial project that a
person subject to an enforcement action voluntarily agrees to
undertake in settlement of the action and to offset some of a
civil penalty.
2)Requires ARB, CalRecycle, DTSC, DPR, and OEHHA to establish
policies on SEPs that benefit environmental justice
communities. The policies shall include all of the following:
a) A public process to solicit potential supplemental
environmental projects from environmental justice
communities.
b) Allow a SEP to comprise up to 50% of an enforcement
action brought by a CalEPA board, department, or office.
c) An annual list of SEPs that may be selected to settle an
enforcement action.
3)Requires CalEPA to consolidate the list of SEPs and post the
list on its website.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's statement.
Many communities across California are located in areas
disproportionately subjected to multiple sources of
pollution. As a result, these communities are more
vulnerable to and impacted by the harmful effects of
pollution than others. These environmentally impacted
communities, also known as environmental justice
communities, need resources to appropriately address
environmental health impacts and to implement community led
solutions. Unfortunately, there is no strong mechanism to
ensure communities disproportionally impacted receive any
improvements after environmental damage has occurred.
Furthermore, when an environmental violation occurs, there
is no mechanism to ensure that the communities who are
directly impacted by the violation are able to receive any
benefits.
One way that environmental justice communities might see
direct environmental or public health benefits in their
neighborhoods is through the creation of an Environmental
Justice Supplemental Environmental Projects policy?
AB 1071 will ensure that all CalEPA boards, departments,
and offices establish a SEP policy specifically for
environmental justice communities.
2)Environmental justice. 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
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facility that is a significant
greenhouse gas emitter (46%), and 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. 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, but did not complete the
required updates for a decade.
SB 535 (DeLeon), Chapter 850, Statutes of 2012 requires the
Cap and Trade Proceeds Investment Plan to direct a minimum of
25% of the available moneys in the fund to projects that
provide benefits to identified disadvantaged communities; and,
a minimum of 10% of the available moneys in the fund to
projects located within identified disadvantaged communities.
SB 535 also required CalEPA to identify disadvantaged
communities (i.e., environmental justice communities). In
order to accurately identify environmental justice
communities, OEHHA, on behalf of CalEPA, created the
California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool
(CalEnviroScreen). CalEnviroScreen is a screening methodology
that can be used to help identify California communities that
are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of
pollution.
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In February of 2014, CalEPA issued an Environmental Justice
Program Update, which included four main areas for future
actions: 1) increase efforts to eliminate discrimination on
the basis of race, national origin, ethnic group
identification, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, color,
genetic information, or disability in any program or activity
conducted or funded by the state; 2) develop guidance to
promote a sound legal framework for CalEPA to advance
environmental justice goals and objectives; 3) lead an
agency-wide working group dedicated to increase compliance
with environmental laws in communities with relatively higher
environmental burdens; and, 4) add additional indicators to
CalEnviroScreen.
3)Supplemental environmental projects. SEPs are environmentally
beneficial projects that a violator agrees to undertake as
part of a settlement for an enforcement action, but which the
violator is not otherwise legally required to perform. In
2003, CalEPA released guidelines for the use of SEPs for its
boards, departments, and offices. The guidelines specify that
an SEP must improve, protect, or reduce risks to public health
and the environment at large. The enforcing agency must have
the opportunity to help shape the scope of the project before
it is implemented and the project must not be commenced until
the enforcing agency has identified a violation. Finally, the
SEP must not be required by a federal, state, or local law or
regulation. CalEPA's SEP guidelines suggest limiting the SEP
to 25% of the total enforcement action.
Within CalEPA, ARB, DTSC, and SWRCB have adopted SEP policies.
ARB and DTSC's policies are consistent with CalEPA's
guidelines and allow SEPs up to 25% of the amount of the
enforcement action. SWRCB, consistent with authority granted
by SB 1733 (Aanestad), Chapter 404, Statutes of 2006, allow
SEPs up to 50% of the amount of the penalty.
CalEPA's 2012 Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Report
provides information on the use of SEPs in California. For
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hazardous waste law violations, three cases totaling over
$33.9 million, of which $5.5 million was used for SEPs. ARB
assessed just under $16.1 million in penalties, and $525,000
was used for SEPs. In the report, SWRCB provided aggregated
data for "backlogged violations," which showed total penalties
of over $25 million and $2.5 million for SEPs.
This bill would require CalRecycle, OEHHA, and DPR to adopt
SEP policies directed toward environmental justice communities
and specify that SEPs can account for up to 50% of an
enforcement action.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
California Environmental Justice Alliance
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN)
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice
Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
Central California Environmental Justice Network
City Heights Community Development Corporation
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Clean Water Action
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
Comite Civico Del Valle
Communities for a Better Environment
Community Water Center
Environmental Health Coalition
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Food Empowerment Project
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
Inland Congregations United for Change
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Los Angeles Waterkeeper
MAAC
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People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights
San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council
San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement and Policy
Project
Sierra Club California
Warehouse Worker Resource Center
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
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319-2092