Cal/EPA Releases California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool 

This week, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), through the Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment (OEHHA), released the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool. Referred to as “CalEnvironscreen 1.0,” this endeavor is the first of its kind in the country. It was developed as part of CalEPA’s goal to identify environmental justice (EJ) communities throughout the state. EJ communities are areas where minorities and communities of low socioeconomic status are faced with disproportionate health and environmental problems because of increased pollution. 

The guidance portion of the screening tool portrays it as a science-based tool for evaluating multiple pollutants and stressors in California communities. It measures a broad range of pollutant and health indicators in every ZIPcode across the state. The recently released tool reports that the seven ZIP codes most burdened by pollution are in the San Joaquin Valley and three are in Los Angeles.

CSAC, the Regional Council of Rural Counties, the American Planning Association California Chapter, and other local government and business organizations had and continue to have significant concerns with the Guidance and the accompanying screening tool. Unfortunately, the recently released document ignores the substance of our recommended amendments to clearly state that the tool and the results of the tool should not be used for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), or for local land use, regulatory, and permitting decisions. While our organizations are open to the use of the tool by the state to identify disadvantaged communities and administer environmental just grants, we have reiterated many times to CalEPA and OEHHA that the tool was not appropriate for local decision making on specific projects because the results are a snap shot in time and apply broadly by ZIP code.

Now that this document has been released for use, CSAC will be monitoring the screening tool’s implementation, and in particular its use at the local level. Please keep us posted of instances where the CalEnviroScreening Tool is referenced or relied upon during any CEQA or land use entitlement processes. This information will be beneficial to any future discussions with CalEPA and OEHHA.

The Screening Tool and accompanying are available here.

The local government coalition letter regarding the Screening Tool is available on the CSAC website here.

Solid Waste

SB 804 (Lara) – Support
As Amended April 22, 2013

SB 804, by Senator Ricardo Lara, is the CSAC and Los Angeles County co-sponsored bill dealing with solid waste conversion technology. Conversion technologies (CT) are technologies capable of converting residual solid waste materials into renewable energy. CTs are processes that have been used for over 25 years as a valuable tool for diverting waste from landfills by converting it into domestic renewable energy. CTs provide an opportunity to reduce our dependence on landfill disposal while reducing air emissions at the same time. This bill would take a step forward in advancing CTs in California by adding them to the definition of biomass in statute. Current law defines “biomass conversion” as the controlled combustion of organic materials–such as wood, lawn and garden clippings, agricultural waste, leaves, tree pruning as well as non-recyclable paper–when separated from other solid waste and used for producing electricity or heat. This bill would simply include CTs to the biomass definition, allowing for cleaner and more efficient technologies to be used in the biomass process. 

In addition, SB 804 includes anaerobic digestion in the definition of composting. Anaerobic digestion refers to the controlled biological decomposition of organic material with little or no oxygen. The decomposition of organic materials in solid waste landfills produces significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Anaerobic digestion can help California reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, (AB 32) by diverting organic materials from landfills, generate low-carbon fuels, and assist with meeting the state’s 75% recycling goal. These changes will ensure that anaerobic digestion facilities are treated comparably to composting facilities. CSAC and LA County have been working with a broad group of stakeholders to garner support for SB 804. If you would like more information, please contact Cara Martinson at 916-327-7500, ext. 504, or cmartinson@counties.org. This bill will be heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on May 1, 2013. 

SB 1337 (Allen) – Oppose
As Amended March 21, 2013

SB 1337, by Assembly Member Travis Allen, would prohibit cities and counties from placing a fee on, or banning single-use plastic bags. Currently, over 60 local governments, including the County of Los Angeles, San Jose, San Luis Obispo County, San Francisco, and Long Beach have already adopted a ban on plastic bags. The results from these existing policies demonstrate both environmental and economic success, and public support. Cities and counties have the ability to design programs that best suit the needs of their respective communities. This bill would prevent local governments from doing just that. This bill will be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on April 29, 2013.

Proposition 39

AB 39 (Skinner/ Perez) – Support if Amended
As Amended April 24, 2012

AB 39, by Assembly Member Skinner and Speaker John A. Perez, was amended this week to narrow local government eligibility to Proposition 39 funding. As you may recall, Proposition 39, the California Clean Energy Jobs Act, was approved by the voters in November 2012 and requires out-of-state businesses to calculate their California income tax liability based on the percentage of their sales in California. This change is expected to generate roughly $1 billion annually for the State. Proposition 39 also established a new state fund, the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund, to support energy efficiency retrofits and alternative energy projects in schools and other public agencies, with an anticipated allocation of $550 million to the fund over the next five years. In addition, the measure also allows for “assistance to local governments in establishing and implementing Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs or similar financial and technical assistance for cost-effective retrofits that include repayment requirements.” Proposition 39 also states that funding shall be prioritized to maximize job creation, energy savings, geographical and economic equity. 

AB 39 would establish the framework for how the State will implement Proposition 39 and invest the proceeds of the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund. Specifically, this bill would allocate 75% of funds for grants to schools K-12, and 11% of that going to community colleges; and, 25% of funds dedicated to K-14 for low-interest or no-interest revolving loans, or loan loss reserve programs for five years with other public buildings eligible for loans and financing at fiscal year 2016-17.

CSAC feels strongly that there is a larger role for local governments in the implementation of Proposition 39. Local governments have been at the forefront of providing energy efficiency and renewable programs to their communities, have the most direct connection to residential and business constituencies and have the most experience with implementing programs and policies at the grassroots level.

CSAC, along with our local government partners, is advocating that public facilities should be eligible for these funds for the entire five- year allocation. CSAC is asking for amendments to address this concern. In addition, there are several bills this Legislative session that deal with the implementation of Proposition 39 including SB 64 (Corbett), which CSAC is also supporting. AB 39 will be heard in the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee on Monday, April 29, 2013.

CEQA

SB 359 (Corbett) – Support
As Amended April 1, 2013

SB 359, by Senator Ellen Corbett, would change the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) infill exemption by increasing current maximum total floor area from 15% to 25% maximum of the total building square footage. CSAC supported similar legislation to this effect last session. In the area of CEQA reform, making changes to the current CEQA infill exemption is important for counties. Counties have been unable to use this tool in the past because the criteria are too stringent to be realistically implemented. This bill would make one simple change to help update this section of law so that counties may be able to use the infill exemption. SB 359 will be heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on May 1, 2013.