Bill Text: CA AB1628 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Environmental justice.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 360, Statutes of 2019. [AB1628 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB1628-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Environmental justice.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 360, Statutes of 2019. [AB1628 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB1628-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
| Assembly Bill | No. 1628 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Robert Rivas |
February 22, 2019 |
An act to amend Section 65040.12 of the Government Code, relating to environmental justice.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1628, as introduced, Robert Rivas.
Environmental justice: Attorney General: Bureau of Environmental Justice: Office of Planning and Research.
Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection, on or before January 1, 2002, to convene a Working Group on Environmental Justice composed of various representatives, as specified, to assist the California Environmental Protection Agency in developing by July 1, 2002, an agencywide environmental justice strategy.
Existing law requires the Office of Planning and Research to be the coordinating agency in state government for environmental justice programs. Existing law requires the Director of State Planning and Research to, among other things, consult with specified entities, including the Secretary for Environmental Protection. Existing law defines “environmental justice” for these purposes 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.
This bill would require the director to additionally consult with the Attorney General and the Bureau of Environmental Justice in the Environment Section of the Department of Justice. The bill would revise the definition of “environmental justice” to also include the meaningful engagement of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to those same actions.
The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to support the Attorney General in securing the resources necessary to support the Bureau of Environmental Justice in the Environment Section of the Department of Justice and to recognize the bureau in statute as a permanent state entity to facilitate the work envisioned by the Attorney General, and would provide related findings and declarations.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:(1) Attorney General Xavier Becerra has demonstrated his leadership in establishing the Bureau of Environmental Justice in the Environment Section of the Department of Justice.
(2) The mission of the Bureau of Environmental Justice is to protect people and communities that endure a disproportionate share of environmental pollution and public health hazards.
(b) It this therefore the intent of the Legislature to support the Attorney General in securing the resources necessary to support the Bureau of Environmental Justice and
to recognize the bureau in statute as a permanent state entity to facilitate the work envisioned by the Attorney General.
SEC. 2.
Section 65040.12 of the Government Code is amended to read:65040.12.
(a) The office shall be the coordinating agency in state government for environmental justice programs.(b) The director shall do all of the following:
(1) Consult with the Secretaries of California Environmental Protection, Natural Resources, Transportation, and all of the following:
(A) The Secretary for Environmental Protection.
(B) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
(C) The Secretary of Transportation.
(D) The Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing, the Housing.
(E) The Working Group on Environmental Justice established
pursuant to Section 71113 of the Public Resources Code, any Code.
(F) The Attorney General and the Bureau of Environmental Justice in the Environment Section of the Department of Justice.
(G) Any other appropriate state agencies, agencies and all other interested members of the public and
private sectors in this state.
(2) Coordinate the office’s efforts and share information regarding environmental justice programs with the Council on Environmental Quality, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the General Accounting Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and other federal agencies.
(3) Review and evaluate any information from federal agencies that is obtained as a result of their respective regulatory activities under federal Executive Order 12898, and from the Working Group on Environmental Justice established pursuant to Section 71113 of the Public Resources Code.
(c) When it adopts its next edition of the general plan guidelines pursuant to Section 65040.2, but in no case later than July 1, 2003, the office shall include guidelines for addressing environmental justice matters
in city and county general plans. The office shall hold at least one public hearing prior to before the release of any draft guidelines, and at least one public hearing after the release of the draft guidelines. The hearings may be held at the regular meetings of the Planning Advisory and Assistance Council.
(d) The guidelines developed by the office pursuant to subdivision (c) shall recommend provisions for general plans to do all of the following:
(1) Propose methods for planning for the equitable distribution of new public facilities and services that increase and enhance community quality of life throughout the community, given the fiscal and legal constraints that restrict the siting of
these facilities.
(2) Propose methods for providing for the location, if any, of industrial facilities and uses that, even with the best available technology, will contain or produce material that, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics, poses a significant hazard to human health and safety, in a manner that seeks to avoid overconcentrating these uses in proximity to schools or residential dwellings.
(3) Propose methods for providing for the location of new schools and residential dwellings in a manner that seeks to avoid locating these uses in proximity to industrial facilities and uses that will contain or produce material that because of its quantity, concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics, poses a significant hazard to human health and safety.
(4) Propose
methods for promoting more livable communities by expanding opportunities for transit-oriented development so that residents minimize traffic and pollution impacts from traveling for purposes of work, shopping, schools, and recreation.
(e) For the purposes of this section, “environmental justice” means the fair treatment and meaningful engagement of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
