BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1622
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Byron D. Sher, Chairman
1999-2000 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1622
AUTHOR: Senator Alarcon
AMENDED: April 24, 2000
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 24, 2000
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Randy Pestor
SUBJECT : ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Under Environmental Justice Law, requires the California
Environmental Protection Agency (Cal-EPA) to meet certain
requirements relating to environmental justice, and to
develop a model environmental justice mission statement for
boards, departments, and offices within the agency.
2) Under the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Act, establishes the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission
(CEC) with various energy responsibilities, including
planning and forecasting, assistance, research and
development, and power facility and site certification.
3) Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research
(OPR) to be the coordinating agency in state government for
environmental justice programs and requires the OPR
director to carry out certain related responsibilities.
This bill :
1) Under Environmental Justice Law, requires Cal-EPA, in
consultation with the Resources Agency and CEC, to also
develop a model environmental justice mission statement for
the CEC.
2) Under the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Act, requires the CEC on or
SB 1622
Page 2
before January 1, 2002, to adopt regulations that will
ensure the CEC is in conformance with applicable federal
guidance relating to environmental justice when certifying
sites and related facilities.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . SB 115 (Solis) Chapter 690, Statutes of
1999, enacted the Environmental Justice Law and requires
OPR to be the coordinating agency in state government for
environmental justice programs (#1, 3 above).
According to the author, "With applications for 42 new power
plants currently pending or anticipated in the next few
years, the California Energy Commission is a major state
environmental permitting entity. However, because the
Energy Commission is part of the Resources Agency instead
of Cal-EPA, it is not covered by SB 115. Moreover, Title
VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
recipients of federal financial assistance from
discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national
origin in their programs or activities. To ensure that the
Energy Commission fully complies with this federal mandate,
it is necessary for the siting process to adequately
identify and address environmental justice concerns."
2) Background. Environmental justice refers to the fair
treatment of people of all races, cultures, and income with
respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and
enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and
policies. On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed
Executive Order 12898 regarding "federal actions to address
environmental justice in minority populations and
low-income populations." The executive order directs
federal agencies to address human health and environmental
issues in low-income communities and minority communities,
and followed a 1992 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
report indicating that "communities of color and low-income
populations experience higher than average exposures to
selected air pollutants, hazardous waste facilities, and
other forms of environmental pollution."
The President also directed each federal agency to address
SB 1622
Page 3
effects of actions on these communities when analysis is
required under the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has
oversight of federal government compliance with the
executive order and NEPA, and the CEQ has developed
guidance to assist federal agencies with their NEPA
procedures ( NOTE : Enacted in 1970, CEQA was modeled after
NEPA which was enacted by Congress in 1969).
EPA's Office of Civil Rights also processes complaints filed
under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, "alleging
discriminatory intent or effect based on race, color, or
national origin resulting from the issuance of pollution
control permits by State or local governmental agencies
that receive EPA funding."
SB 115 (Solis), as approved by the committee, tracked
requirements of federal environmental justice provisions by
requiring each state agency to make environmental justice
part of its mission, requiring OPR to develop an agencywide
environmental justice strategy, and requiring changes to
the CEQA guidelines so that environmental justice matters
are considered in the CEQA process. SB 115 required OPR to
identify communities and populations disproportionately
affected by high and adverse environmental effects and to
identify communities and populations where existing data or
information is insufficient or incomplete and propose
strategies for correcting those deficiencies. SB 115 also
required OPR and the secretary to coordinate their efforts
with the CEQ and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Because of concerns by the Governor and certain interest
groups, SB 115 was subsequently amended to strike these
provisions and add certain OPR and Cal-EPA requirements
(see #1 and 3 above).
3) Examples of environmental justice matters. There are a
number of factors to be considered in identifying an
environmental justice issue. Factors that could be
considered include, for example, a concentration of
environmental hazards in an affected area because of the
lack of public participation, a lack of adequate protection
under health and environmental laws, or unusual
vulnerability of a community to hazards. Examples of
environmental justice problems could include inadequate
SB 1622
Page 4
stormwater protection in a predominately minority populated
section of a city compared to systems in other parts of the
city, siting a landfill in a community with an
overconcentration of other hazards such as Superfund sites,
placement of a highway through a low-income and minority
community, and unsafe stormwater discharges harming fish
that are part of the subsistence diet of Native Americans.
Environmental justice concerns, therefore, are not limited
to the responsibilities of entities under Cal-EPA.
4) More clarification needed? Should the CEC, rather than
Cal-EPA, develop the CEC environmental justice mission
statement? Because OPR is the coordinating agency in state
government for environmental justice matters, OPR should be
consulted in developing a model environmental justice
mission statement. Also, it may be more appropriate for
the CEC rules and regulations to conform to that state
environmental justice mission statement.
5) Related legislation. SB 89 (Escutia), currently at the
Assembly Desk, revises the Environmental Justice Law to
require the Cal-EPA Secretary to convene a Working Group
with certain responsibilities, to convene a technical
advisory group to assist the working group, and to prepare
and submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature
every three years regarding implementation of the law.
SB 1408 (Alarcon), to be heard by the committee April 24,
2000, creates the Environmental Justice Technical
Assistance Grant Demonstration Project.
6) Support and opposition highlights. Supporters of SB 1622
generally note the need to account for environmental
justice considerations in the energy facility siting
process, especially because power plants subject to the
siting process are "inherently large projects, usually with
significant environmental impacts." Opponents are
generally concerned about the reference to conformity with
federal environmental justice guidance when OPR and Cal-EPA
are "embarking on a separate effort to develop
environmental justice policies . . ." and also assert that
the CEC is not "an environmental agency."
SB 1622
Page 5
7) Technical considerations. Environmental Justice Law added
Part 3 (commencing with Public Resources Code 72000) to
Division 34 of the Public Resources Code. AB 703 (Lempert)
Chapter 849, Statutes of 1999, enacted the Ballast Water
Management for Control of Nonindigenous Species Law by
adding Division 36 (commencing with 71200) to the Public
Resources Code. To avoid confusion, Environmental Justice
Law should therefore be renumbered to commence with 71100
of the Public Resource Code.
SOURCE : Senator Alarcon
SUPPORT : California League of Conservation Voters
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
Communities for a Better Environment
Greenlining Institute
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
Southeast Alliance for Environmental Justice
OPPOSITION : California Chamber of Commerce
California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
Independent Energy Producers
Western States Petroleum Association