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 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.
(E) The Working Group on Environmental Justice established pursuant to Section 71113 of the Public Resources Code.
(F) Any other appropriate state 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 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) (1) For purposes of this section, “environmental justice” means the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes, and national origins, with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
(2) “Environmental justice” includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(A) The availability of a healthy environment for all people.
(B) The deterrence, reduction, and elimination of pollution burdens for populations and communities experiencing the adverse effects of that pollution, so that the effects of the pollution are not disproportionately borne by those populations and communities.
(C) Governmental entities engaging and providing technical assistance to populations and communities most impacted by pollution to promote their meaningful participation in all phases of the environmental and land use decisionmaking process.
(D) At a minimum, the meaningful consideration of recommendations from populations and communities most impacted by pollution into environmental and land use decisions.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 360, Sec. 3. (AB 1628) Effective January 1, 2020.)
Structure California Code