BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1622|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1622
Author: Alarcon (D)
Amended: 5/23/00
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 6-2, 4/11/00
AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Hughes, Peace, Solis, Vasconcellos
NOES: Brulte, Kelley
NOT VOTING: Mountjoy, Murray, Speier
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-2, 4/24/00
AYES: Sher, Alarcon, Alpert, Chesbro, O'Connell, Solis
NOES: Rainey, Wright
NOT VOTING: Hayden, McPherson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : State Energy Resources
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill:
1.Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency,
on or before July 1, 2001, in consultation with the
Office of Planning and Research to develop and adopt an
environmental justice mission statement for the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.
2.Requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, on or before January 1, 2002, to
CONTINUED
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adopt regulations that will ensure the commission is in
conformance with the environmental justice mission
statement (#1 above) and applicable federal guidance
relating to environmental justice when certifying sites
and related facilities.
ANALYSIS : 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, requires 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
Director of OPR to carry out certain related
responsibilities.
Comments
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's office, "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
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Energy Commission fully complies with this federal mandate,
it is necessary for the siting process to adequately
identify and address environmental justice concerns."
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
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) 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
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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).
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
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.
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), in the Senate Appropriations Committee,
creates the Environmental Justice Technical Assistance
Grant Demonstration Project.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/00)
California League of Conservation Voters
Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
Communities for a Better Environment
Greenlining Institute
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
Southeast Alliance for Environmental Justice
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/23/00)
California Chamber of Commerce
California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Independent Energy Producers
Western States Petroleum Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters of this bill 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."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : 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."
CP:cm 5/23/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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