BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1787
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|Author: |Gomez |
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|Version: |2/4/2016 |Hearing |6/8/2016 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Rachel Machi Wagoner |
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SUBJECT: California Environmental Protection Agency:
cross-media enforcement unit.
ANALYSIS:
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) Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency
(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
comprised of the Secretary for Environmental Protection,
the Chairs of the Air Resources Board (ARB) and the State
Water Resources Control Board, and the Directors of Toxic
Substances Control, Pesticide Regulation, Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, Resources Recycling and
Recovery, and Planning and Research, which has been tasked
with examining existing data and studies on environmental
justice and recommending policies for implementation by
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CalEPA.
c) In consultation with the Attorney General, establish a
cross-media enforcement unit to assist the boards,
departments, and offices within CalEPA to investigate and
prepare matters for enforcement action. The unit is
authorized to inspect and investigate violations within
the jurisdiction of a board, department, office, or other
agency, as specified.
d) No later than July 1, 2002, adopt an agency-wide
strategy for identifying and addressing gaps in existing
programs, policies, or activities of CalEPA's boards,
departments, and offices that may impede the achievement
of environmental justice.
e) No later than January 1, 2004, and every three years
thereafter, prepare and submit a report to the Governor
and the Legislature on the implementation of these
requirements.
3) Establishes the Environmental Justice Small Grant Program,
administered by CalEPA, to award funds to community-based,
grassroots nonprofit organizations serving communities
adversely impacted by environmental justice issues.
4) Names the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) as the
coordinating agency in state government for environmental
justice programs.
a) Requires CalEPA to identify disadvantaged communities
based on geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and
environmental hazard criteria for investment opportunities
using the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (i.e.,
cap-and-trade auction revenues).
This bill:
Requires the CalEPA cross-media enforcement unit to prioritize
the state's most disadvantaged communities. Specifically:
1)Requires the cross-media enforcement unit to prioritize the
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state's most disadvantaged communities when exercising its
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.
Background
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. 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. 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.
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;
however, the agency has never completed the required updates.
In 2012, SB 535 (De León, Chapter 830) required CalEPA to
identify disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities
using the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Pursuant to this
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requirement, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA) has developed 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.
In 2013, CalEPA established an Environmental Justice Compliance
and Enforcement Working Group (working group) to improve
multi-media enforcement and environmental justice efforts. The
working group includes representatives from the CalEPA boards,
departments, and offices, as well as local agencies that have
enforcement authority. 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 three
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 directs CalEPA's cross-media enforcement unit to focus
its activities on the communities that are most in need of
assistance.
Comments
1) Purpose of Bill. According to the author, studies have found
that environmental penalties are higher and Superfund cleanup
sites are treated faster in white communities. Such practices
have exacerbated the effect of the disproportionate siting of
facilities within disadvantaged communities and communities
of color. Studies have also shown a correlation between less
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state enforcement in an area (in the form of fewer
inspections and punitive actions taken) and lower incomes.
The author believes that the disproportionate impact of
environmental pollution on poor and minority communities is a
much wider phenomenon, well documented by researchers. A
recent study showed that Latinos and African Americans are
far more likely than whites to live in California communities
burdened by hazardous waste sites, exposure to pesticides,
and traffic density.
The author asserts that this discrepancy in the exposure to
environmental hazards and response by authorities persists to
this day. The natural gas leak in affluent, predominantly
white Porter Ranch, received immediate attention from the
media, state and federal elected officials, and regulators.
Numerous residents have access to attorneys and resources to
defend themselves. Conversely, the Exide Technologies battery
recycling plant has been polluting the air and soil of
working class, predominantly Latino residents in East Los
Angeles with lead and other toxic chemicals for decades - and
was allowed to continue operating for years on a temporary
permit. This is a poignant example of environmental
discrimination and unequal treatment of communities.
The author believes that it is critically important that
state regulators make a concerted effort to enforce the law
against polluters who have been building their facilities and
operating with some level of impunity in disadvantaged,
low-income, and minority communities lacking resources,
support, and capacity to demand swift action.
2) Budget trailer bill language put forth by the Administration
in May contains similar language. However, because the
budget trailer bill has not yet been signed into law and
because this language is not necessary to implement the
budget, it is appropriate for the Senate Environmental
Quality Committee to consider this measure.
Related/Prior Legislation
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SB 535 (De León, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012) requires CalEPA
to identify disadvantaged communities for investment
opportunities using the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
SB 828 (Alarcon, Chapter 765, Statutes of 2001) establishes a
timeline for the requirements of SB 89 and requires CalEPA to
update its report to the Legislature every three years.
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.
SOURCE: Author
SUPPORT:
California Environmental Justice Alliance
Coalition for Clean Air
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION:
None received
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