Environmental Justice

1. Environmental Justice • Environmental Justice Overview • Environmental Justice Research Seminar • Applying EJ in the Regulatory Process

2. Environmental Justice • We need to be thinking about EJ early in the process • Everyone’s opinion DOES count • Ask - if you have any questions

3. Executive Order 12898 • Significant adverse environmental and health effects should not fall disproportionately on low-income and minority communities, and • Members of those communities should be informed of and help to participate in the decision-making that affects their health and environment.

4. 1964 Civil Rights Act • No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

5. How is Environmental Justice Defined in California? • 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. (SB 115, Solis, 1999)

6. USEPA Definition of EJ • …the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

7. USEPA Definition (continued) • Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the executive of federal, state, and local and tribal programs and policies.

8. What Conditions Can Lead to Environmental Injustice? • Environmental injustice can occur when there is a lack of planning, foresight, precaution, or equity in the decision making processes that may have environmental impacts.

9. What Processes May Result in Environmental Justice Impacts? • Land use decisions • Pattern of siting that results in a concentration of sources in a mixed-use neighborhood • Siting residential areas and schools near commercial/industrial sources • Environmental regulations

10. ARB’s EJ Activities • Barrio Logan Studies 1999 • Neighborhood Assessment Program 2000 • EJ Policies 2001 • Complaint Resolution Protocol 2002 • Public Participation Guidebook 2003 • Land Use and Air Quality Handbook 2004

11. Environmental Research Seminar

12. Environmental Justice Research Seminar • Title • Speaker

13. Start Thinking EnvironmentalJustice • Applying EJ in the Regulatory Process • EJ Procedural Inequities • EJ Geographic Inequities • Community Outreach

14. Applying EJ in the Regulatory Process • Second step in the overall process of rule development • Ask yourself: Who will be impacted by this proposed action? • Think outside of traditional stakeholder groups • Develop your contact list

15. Applying EJ in the Regulatory Process (continued) • Begin outreach efforts early in the process • Meet with the communities • Expand on your educational efforts • Work with local air districts

16. EJ Procedural Inequities • Planning or regulatory processes are not applied uniformly • Decision-making body stacked with a particular special interest group • Meetings conducted at locations or times that discourage full public participation • Using only English when decision affects non-English speaking participants

17. EJ Procedural Inequities (continued) • Uneven application or enforcement of environmental regulations • Different groups may perceive different impacts from the project • Within a given community, environmental effects may fall differently on children, pregnant women, asthmatics, the elderly, and/or other individuals.

18. EJ Geographic Inequities • Actions result in concentration of air pollution sources that heavily impact nearby residential areas • Actions result in concentration of facilities that produce regional benefits but have localized adverse environmental impacts • Benefits or disbenefits of a regulation concentrated in specific areas or types of communities

19. Community Outreach • Ask: In what ways can we…? • Assess the situation. Get the facts. • Don’t come off as a “know it all”. • There may not be a “best solution”. • You don’t need consensus to achieve results.

20. Staff Report • Could minority groups or low-income groups perceive our actions as having adverse impacts on their community? • Have we made all reasonable efforts to reach out to such groups to identify, understand, and address their concerns? • What benefit does or could our proposed activity provide to affected communities?

21. Staff Report • Identify the good faith outreach effort • Identify number of community meetings you attended • Identify the number of ARB workshops you held to receive input and if they were webcast

22. Staff Report (continued) • Addressing language barriers • Identify the local impacts that may occur (as a result of what you heard from the locals you met with) • Include the issues raised by the community

23. EJ Tips • Be open and flexible • Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” • If you don’t understand what you are doing, the community won’t either

24. Available Resources • http://www.arb.ca.gov/ch/ch.htm • EJ section staff • EJ outreach database • ARB EJ Stakeholders Working Group

25. Questions