BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1787
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 6, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1787 (Gomez) - As Introduced February 4, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the cross-media enforcement unit within the
California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to
prioritize the state's most disadvantaged communities.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the cross-media enforcement unit to prioritize the
state's most disadvantaged communities when exercising its
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authority.
2)Defines "state's most disadvantaged communities" as
communities identified by the California Communities
Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen) as the
disadvantaged communities most disproportionately burdened and
vulnerable to multiple sources of pollution.
FISCAL EFFECT
No additional state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, it is critically important
for state regulators to make concerted efforts to enforce the
law against polluters who have, with impunity, been building
and operating facilities in disadvantaged, low-income, and
minority communities who lack the resources, support, and
capacity to demand swift corrective action.
2)Background. In 2013, CalEPA established an Environmental
Justice Compliance and Enforcement Working Group (working
group) to improve multi-media enforcement and environmental
justice efforts. Cross or multi-media enforcement refers to
the coordinated regulation and enforcement of multiple sources
of pollution in the same area.
The working group includes representatives from the CalEPA
boards, departments, and offices, as well as local agencies
that have enforcement authority.
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According to CalEPA, the primary objective of the working
group is to coordinate compliance assistance and enforcement
activities in the state's most disadvantaged communities,
where multiple sources of pollution exist and residents are
disproportionately vulnerable. The working group's first
initiative was conducted in 2013 and 2014 in Fresno. It
included community consultation, compliance assistance for
regulated entities, and coordinated, multi-agency compliance
sweeps. The initiative overall resulted in 46 citations for
violations of air pollution regulations and 3 enforcement
actions relating to improper management of hazardous waste.
The working group is in the process of selecting the next
community for an initiative. This bill codifies existing
activities and requires CalEPA to continue this effort going
forward.
3)Environmental Justice. Environmental Justice refers to 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 considered to be "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. ARB estimates that air pollution
exposure accounts for 19,000 premature deaths, 280,000 cases
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of asthma, and 1.9 million lost work days every year.
Additionally, enforcement of environmental laws tends to be
more rigorous in white and more affluent communities; whereas,
lower income communities and communities of color tend to
correlate with fewer inspections and enforcement actions.
4)Disadvantaged Communities. In 2012, SB 535 (De Leon), Chapter
830, required CalEPA to identify disadvantaged communities for
investment opportunities using AB 32 cap-and-trade revenues.
In response, OEHHA developed CalEnviroScreen to use 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 in the greatest need of
assistance.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081