Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06221999 - C180 do TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS • CONTRA COSTA COUNTY FROM: Leslie Stewart, Chair Hazardous Materials Commission DATE: June 2, 1999 SUBJECT: Hazardous Materials Commission Report on Environmental Justice SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION Recommendation: AcCEPT the report from.the Hazardous Materials Commission on the status of the Commission's Environmental Justice Report and Recommendations. Background: As the Commission has periodically reported to the Board, members have been informing themselves about environmental justice and considering the issue in the context of the County and County programs in order to prepare a report to you. The report will highlight many programs here that further environmental justice (even though they do not use that terminology) and include proposals for further incorporating an environmental justice approach in those and other programs and policies. The brief report below is an update on the status of the Commission's work. Fiscal Impact: None. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: yes SIGNAT04rii" 61 RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE f� APPROVE OTHER IZ4E�� SiGNATIJRE(S . J ACTON OF BOARD ON June 22 , 1999 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED )X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS (ABSENT - - ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD AYES: NOES: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN, ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Contact Person: Elinor Blake ATTESTED June 22, 1999 CC. 'Health services Director 'HIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Hazardous Materials Commission(via HSD) S 'PERVISORS AND CO'< AD INISTRATOR Michael Kent,Hazardous Materials Ombudsman(via HSD) Tracy Rattray,Public Environmental Health Advisory Board BY: DEPUTY wj CONTRA COSTA COUNTY HAZARDOUS MATERIALS COMMISSION "?ate. June 2.2, 1999 To: Board of Supervisors From: Leslie Stewart,Chair Hazardous Materials Commission Subject: Environmental Justice Report and Recommendations Y Over the last year, the Commission has presented its environmental justice project to several civic organizations and Municipal Advisory Councils for their comment. This summer we will sponsor one or more workshops for more in-depth discussion with a wide variety of interested parties. We will invite the business community, including industry, the building industry; realtors, and other businesses; local officials; the faith community; civic organizations; labor; environmental organizations; and other interested parties. We will then.prepare a final report to present to you. The Commission}describes environmental justice as follows: Environmental Justice is Fair Treatment. Environmental justice demands a healthful, safe environment for everyone. It means the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and income levels with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, and the encouragement of public participation in policy making that concerns the environment. Environmental justice strives to prevent and reduce any disproportionate burden of environmental harm, including harm to human health, and provide an equitable distribution of environmental benefits. As expressed in a recent report by The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine,"Environmental justice is a concept that addresses in a cross-cutting and integrative manner the physical and social health issues related to the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens among populations..."[Institute ofMedicine. 1999.Toward Environmental Justice. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.] Environmental justice is thus more than a solution to a pollution problem. Safe jobs, affordable and safe housing,accessible transportation, and available health care and other services are all part of establishing and maintaining environmental justice in our communities. `_'Yew initiatives on this exciting topic are underway elsewhere in the state. In the legislature, The Members: Leslie Stewart,Chair Pam Aguilar Maria Alegria Scott Anderson Henry Clark Paulette Lagana Marf Leeds Stephens Linsley airs Payne Michael Polkabla .Timmy Rodgers Mike Shimansky Stuart Shoults Executive Assistant. Elinor Blake 20 Aller:Street, Martinez, CA 94553 (925) 370-5022 Fax(925) 370-5098 Board of Supervisors Page 2 Environmental Justtice Report and.Recommendations June 22, 1.999 California Environmental Justice Act of 1999 (SB 115, Solis)would require that,by January 1, 2001, the Office of Planning and Research(OPR)would recommend proposed changes in CEQA guidelines to provide for the identification and mitigation by public agencies of disproportionately high and adverse enviromrnental effects of projects on minority populations and low-income populations. The bill would require the office to develop an agency-wide environmental justice strategy that addresses disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of programs,policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. SB 89 (Escutia),would require OPR to convene a Working Group on Environmental Justice comprised of state agency secretaries and the Attorney General to assist OPR in developing an agency wide strategy. As of May 27, SB 115 has passed the Senate and is in the Assembly. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board of Directors will soon be considering for adoption Guiding Principles on Environmental Justice, which have been proposed unanimously by the District's Advisory Council. The 20-member Advisory Council includes representatives of the Bay Area business and construction communities, agriculture, labor, conservation organizations, public health, academia,park districts, and other parties. In the fall of 1997, the South Coast Air Quality Management District adopted a 10-point environmental justice program. Staff is preparing a report to the Board describing the program's considerable accomplishments and making recommendations for fixture efforts. The Commission has been following these initiatives to ensure that they inform our proposals to the Berard of Supervisors and are not at odds with or duplicative of policies before the Air District or the legislature.