Amended in Assembly April 4, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2292

Introduced by Assembly Member Gordon

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Ting)

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February 18, 2016

An act to amend Section begin delete 71090 end delete begin insert 39711 end insert of the begin delete Public Resources end delete begin insert Health and Safety end insert Code, relating to environmental justice.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2292, as amended, Gordon. begin delete California Communities Environmental Health Screening. end delete begin insert California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: disadvantaged communities. end insert

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The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities, also known as the California Communities Environmental Health Screening, and requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

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This bill would require the agency, no later than July 1, 2017, to update the California Communities Environmental Health Screening to include specified factors when identifying disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities related to the 3-year investment plan.

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Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities as part of a 3-year investment plan developed by the Department of Finance for the moneys collected by the State Air Resources Board resulting from a market-based compliance mechanism relative to greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to update the California Communities Environmental Health Screening tool, developed by the agency and the office for the purposes of identifying those disadvantaged communities, to include specified environmental data, when available, relating to communities in the California-Mexico border region.

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This bill would additionally require the office in the next update of the tool or by January 1, 2018, whichever is sooner, to include in the tool population density as a population characteristic.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 39711 of the end insert begin insert Health and Safety Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

39711.  

(a)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The California Environmental Protection
Agency shall identify disadvantaged communities for investment
opportunities related to this chapter. These communities shall be
identified based on geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and
environmental hazard criteria, and may include, but are not limited
to, either of the following:

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(1)

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begin insert (A) end insert  Areas disproportionately affected by environmental pollution
and other hazards that can lead to negative public health effects,
exposure, or environmental degradation.

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(2)

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begin insert (B) end insert  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.

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(b)

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begin insert (2) end insert  The California Environmental Protection Agency shall hold
at least one public workshop prior to the identification of
disadvantaged communities pursuant to this section.

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(c) Chapter

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begin insert (3) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter end insert 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of the Part 1 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government begin delete Code end delete begin insert Code) end insert does not apply to the
identification of disadvantaged communities pursuant to this
section.

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(b) No later than July 1, 2017, the California Environmental
Protection Agency shall update the identification of disadvantaged
communities for investment opportunities related to this chapter,
as established pursuant to subdivision (a), to include factors that
include, but need not be limited to, areas of the state that are
disproportionately impacted by any of the following:

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(1) High poverty rates.

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(2) High rent burden and severe rent burden where households
pay more than 50 percent of their household income in gross rent.

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(3) High cost of living.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 71090 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

71090.  

(a) For purposes of this part, the following terms have
the following meanings:

(1) “Border” means the California-Mexico border.

(2) “Office” means the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment.

(3) “Tool” means the California Communities Environmental
Health Screening, also known as CalEnviroScreen, that is used to
identify disadvantaged communities pursuant to Section 39711 of
the Health and Safety Code.

(b) (1) In the next update of the tool or by January 1, 2017,
whichever is sooner, the office shall report to the Legislature on
air quality, water quality, and toxic release and hazardous waste
site data necessary for updating the indicators in the tool for
communities located in the border region, including both of the
following:

(A) Deficiencies in and barriers to accessing necessary data.

(B) Current and future monitoring studies and plans for
obtaining the data.

(2) A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(c) For the purposes of subdivision (b), necessary data and
information may include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(1) Air quality measurements for ozone and particulate matter
2.5 microns and smaller in size in the border region.

(2) Vehicle emissions at border crossings.

(3) Complete traffic density data within 150 meters of the
border.

(4) Water quality data for waterways that cross the border.

(5) Feasibility of incorporating into the tool information from
Mexico contained in the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registry.

(d) When data of sufficient quality identified in subdivisions
(b) and (c) are available for the communities in the border region,
the office shall include that data in the next update of the tool.

(e) In the next update of the tool or by January 1, 2018,
whichever is sooner, the office shall include in the tool population
density as a population characteristic.

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