BILL NUMBER: AB 1787	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gomez

                        FEBRUARY 4, 2016

   An act to amend Section 12812.2 of the Government Code, relating
to environmental protection.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1787, as introduced, Gomez. California Environmental Protection
Agency: cross-media enforcement unit.
   Existing law establishes the California Environmental Protection
Agency (CalEPA) under the supervision of the Secretary for
Environmental Protection, and requires CalEPA, among other things, to
identify disadvantaged communities for certain investment
opportunities based on geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and
environmental hazard criteria, as specified. Existing law requires
the secretary's deputy secretary for law enforcement and counsel to,
in consultation with the Attorney General, establish a cross-media
enforcement unit to assist boards, departments, offices, or other
agencies that implement a law or regulation within the jurisdiction
of CalEPA, as specified.
   This bill would require the cross-media enforcement unit to
prioritize the state's most disadvantaged communities, as specified.

   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 12812.2 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   12812.2.  (a) One of the deputies to the Secretary for
Environmental Protection shall be a deputy secretary for law
enforcement and counsel, who, subject to the direction and
supervision of the secretary, shall have the responsibility and
authority to do all of the following:
   (1) Develop a program to ensure that the boards, departments,
offices, and other agencies that implement laws or regulations within
the jurisdiction of the California Environmental Protection Agency
take consistent, effective, and coordinated compliance and
enforcement actions to protect public health and the environment. The
program shall include training and cross-training of inspection and
enforcement personnel of those boards, departments, offices, or other
agencies to ensure consistent, effective, and coordinated
enforcement.
   (2)  (A)    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 California Environmental
Protection Agency, to investigate and prepare matters for enforcement
action in order to protect public health and the environment. The
unit may inspect and investigate a violation of a law or regulation
within the jurisdiction of the board, department, office, or other
agency, including a violation involving more than one environmental
medium and a violation involving the jurisdiction of more than one
board, department, office, or agency. The unit shall exercise its
authority consistent with the authority granted to the head of a
department pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 11180) of
Chapter 2 of Part 1.  In exercising its authority pursuant to
this section, the unit shall prioritize the state's most
disadvantaged communities.  
   (B) For purposes of this paragraph, "state's most disadvantaged
communities" means communities identified by the California
Environmental Protection Agency, through the California Communities
Environmental Health Screening Tool, also known as CalEnviroScreen,
created pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code, as
the disadvantaged communities most disproportionately burdened and
vulnerable to multiple sources of pollution. 
   (3) Refer a violation of a law or regulation within the
jurisdiction of a board, department, office, or other agency that
implements a law or regulation within the jurisdiction of the
California Environmental Protection Agency to the Attorney General, a
district attorney, or city attorney for the filing of a civil or
criminal action.
   (4) Exercise the authority granted pursuant to paragraph (3) only
after providing notice to the board, department, office, or other
agency unless the secretary determines that notice would compromise
an investigation or enforcement action.
   (b) Nothing in this section shall authorize the deputy secretary
for law enforcement and counsel to duplicate, overlap, compromise, or
otherwise interfere with an investigation or enforcement action
undertaken by a board, department, office, or other agency that
implements a law or regulation subject to the jurisdiction of the
California Environmental Protection Agency.
   (c) The Environmental Protection Agency shall post on its Web
site, updated no later than December 1 of each year, the status of
the implementation of this section.