BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1000| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 1000 Author: Leyva (D), et al. Amended: 4/12/16 Vote: 21 SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/6/16 AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley NOES: Moorlach NO VOTE RECORDED: Nguyen SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 4/20/16 AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley NOES: Gaines, Bates SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/27/16 AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza NOES: Bates, Nielsen SUBJECT: Land use: general plans: environmental justice SOURCE: California Environmental Justice Alliance Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice DIGEST: This bill requires every city and county to include an environmental justice element in its general plan. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires, pursuant to the Planning and Zoning Law: SB 1000 Page 2 a) Every county and city to adopt a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and safety. b) The general plan to be "internally consistent," which means the various elements cannot have conflicting information or assumptions. c) Cities and counties' major land use decisions-subdivisions, zoning, public works projects, use permits-to be consistent with their general plans. d) The housing element to be updated no less than every eight years, pursuant to a statutory schedule. 1)Allows cities and counties to adopt optional elements that address issues of their choosing. 2)Specifies that optional elements have the same legal force as the mandatory elements. 3)Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to publish and periodically revise General Plan Guidelines that: a) Recommend the information that local planners should collect; b) Suggest goals, policies, and objectives that local general plans could adopt; and SB 1000 Page 3 c) List a wide range of feasible implementation measures to carry out those local goals. 4)Designates OPR as the lead state agency on environmental justice matters (SB 115, Solis, Chapter 690, Statutes of 1999). 5)Requires OPR to adopt recommendations in its General Plan Guidelines that local governments may use to address environmental justice issues (AB 1553, Keeley, 2001). 6)Requires consideration of specific water, wastewater, and fire protection needs for disadvantaged communities in general plans as well as in some proceedings that determine local government boundaries (SB 244, Wolk, 2011). 7)Provides that 25% of the revenue from the state's "cap-and-trade" program for greenhouse gas emissions must benefit disadvantaged communities, as identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CALEPA), based on geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and environmental hazard criteria (SB 535, De Leon, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012). This bill: 1)Requires every city and county to adopt or review an environmental justice element upon the adoption or next revision of the housing element on or after January 1, 2018. The environmental justice element must identify: a) Disadvantaged communities within the jurisdiction of the agency, including both those communities identified by CALEPA for the purpose of allocating cap-and-trade funding and communities with median household incomes below 80 SB 1000 Page 4 percent of the statewide median. b) Objectives and policies to reduce the health risks in disadvantaged communities through means that include reducing pollution exposure, improving air quality, and promoting food access, healthier homes, physical activity, and public amenities, as defined. c) Objectives and policies to promote civil engagement in the public decision-making process. 2)Defines public amenities to include facilities such as community centers or water and transportation infrastructure, as well as other public services such as fire protection, public lighting, signage, and sidewalks. Background The California Supreme Court has called the general plan "the constitution for all future development" because it presents a vision and a set of principles for future growth in the community. Development decisions must carry out and not obstruct a general plan's policies. Major updates to a general plan often trigger review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which requires studies of the impacts of government decisions on people and the environment. Since 1999, the Legislature has enacted several laws to advance consideration of environmental justice; as defined in state law, environmental justice means 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. Local governments have also begun to consider environmental SB 1000 Page 5 justice issues. According to the most recent Annual Planning Survey conducted by OPR (in 2014), 101 cities and counties reported that they considered equity issues in their general plans. Two cities-Jurupa Valley and National City-have adopted optional elements in their general plans specifically addressing environmental justice. Nonetheless, disadvantaged communities continue to suffer from environmental harms. Some advocates want local governments to take additional steps to address environmental justice issues. Comments 1)Purpose of the bill. Throughout California, disadvantaged communities bear a disproportionate burden from pollution and other environmental hazards. Communities that lack political power often find polluting facilities sited near them, while lacking basic infrastructure such as water services, public transportation, outdoor recreation spaces, and even grocery stores. This disparate treatment results in poor health outcomes, such as high rates of cancer, asthma, and birth defects. Cities and counties have control over many decisions that affect the exposure of disadvantaged communities, and burdens that they face can be alleviated by proper planning that takes their needs into account. By requiring cities and counties to adopt an environmental justice element in their general plans, SB 1000 encourages local governments to consider how these communities are affected by planning decisions in a comprehensive and cohesive manner. SB 1000 is an important step toward ensuring that all Californians live in a healthy environment. 2)Who pays? The Legislature first required cities and counties to adopt general plans in 1937. Over the last 80 years, legislators have insisted on increasingly detailed local plans. But California doesn't invest state General Fund money in long-range, comprehensive, local planning. The burden of funding these new state mandated local programs falls on local general funds and on the property owners who apply for SB 1000 Page 6 development permits. SB 1000 ups the ante by requiring an entirely new element, which could spark expensive wholesale makeovers of general plans and the associated costly CEQA analyses. SB 1000 is another well-intentioned, but unfunded, state mandated local program. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 1)One-time costs of up to $60,000 to OPR to produce written guidance related to the mandatory environmental justice element to supplement the adopted General Plan Guidelines. (General Fund) 2)Unknown, significant local costs to develop and adopt a new environmental justice general plan element and revise other elements to ensure consistency. SUPPORT: (Verified5/27/16) California Environmental Justice Alliance (co-source) Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (co-source) Advancement Project American Lung Association - California Asian Pacific Environmental Network Breast Cancer Fund California Alliance for Retired Americans California Bicycle Coalition California Coastal Protection Network California League of Conservation Voters California Pan-Ethnic Health Network CCoMpress Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment SB 1000 Page 7 Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy Chino Valley Democratic Club Coalition For A Safe Environment Coalition for Clean Air Comité Civico Del Valle Communities for a Better Environment Communities for a New California Community Action to Fight Asthma Councilmember David Alvarez, City of San Diego Environmental Health Coalition Environmental Working Group Fresno Barrios Unidos Friends Committee on Legislation of California Inland Congregations United for Change Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability Pacoima Beautiful Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles PODER! Regional Asthma Management & Prevention Safe Routes to School National Partnership Sierra Club California SoCal CAN Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education The Greenlining Institute The Women's Foundation of California Trust for Public Land OPPOSITION: (Verified5/27/16) American Planning Association, California Chapter California Apartment Association California Building Industry Association California Business Properties Association California Chamber of Commerce California State Association of Counties City of Camarillo City of Roseville City of San Jacinto City of Thousand Oaks League of Cities SB 1000 Page 8 Rural County Representatives of California Prepared by:Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119 5/28/16 16:50:09 **** END ****