SECTIONS 71110-71116 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 71110-71116

71110. The California Environmental Protection Agency, in designing
its mission for programs, policies, and standards, shall do all of
the following:
(a) Conduct its programs, policies, and activities that
substantially affect human health or the environment in a manner that
ensures the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and
income levels, including minority populations and low-income
populations of the state.
(b) Promote enforcement of all health and environmental statutes
within its jurisdiction in a manner that ensures the fair treatment
of people of all races, cultures, and income levels, including
minority populations and low-income populations in the state.
(c) Ensure greater public participation in the agency's
development, adoption, and implementation of environmental
regulations and policies.
(d) Improve research and data collection for programs within the
agency relating to the health of, and environment of, people of all
races, cultures, and income levels, including minority populations
and low-income populations of the state.
(e) Coordinate its efforts and share information with the United
States Environmental Protection Agency.
(f) Identify differential patterns of consumption of natural
resources among people of different socioeconomic classifications for
programs within the agency.
(g) Consult with and review any information received from the
Working Group on Environmental Justice established to assist the
California Environmental Protection Agency in developing an
agencywide strategy pursuant to Section 71113 that meets the
requirements of this section.

71111. On or before January 1, 2001, the California Environmental
Protection Agency shall develop a model environmental justice mission
statement for boards, departments, and offices within the agency.
For purposes of this section, environmental justice has the same
meaning as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 65040.12 of the
Government Code.

71112. In developing the model environmental justice mission
statement pursuant to Section 71111, the California Environmental
Protection Agency shall consult with, review, and evaluate any
information received from the Working Group on Environmental Justice
established pursuant to Section 71113.

71113. (a) On or before January 1, 2002, the Secretary for
Environmental Protection shall convene a Working Group on
Environmental Justice to assist the California Environmental
Protection Agency in developing, on or before July 1, 2002, an
agencywide strategy for identifying and addressing any gaps in
existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the
achievement of environmental justice.
(b) The working group shall be composed of the Secretary for
Environmental Protection, the Chairs of the State Air Resources
Board, the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and the
State Water Resources Control Board, the Director of Toxic Substances
Control, the Director of Pesticide Regulation, the Director of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the Director of Planning
and Research.
(c) The working group shall do all of the following on or before
April 1, 2002:
(1) Examine existing data and studies on environmental justice,
and consult with state, federal, and local agencies and affected
communities.
(2) Recommend criteria to the Secretary for Environmental
Protection for identifying and addressing any gaps in existing
programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of
environmental justice.
(3) Recommend procedures and provide guidance to the California
Environmental Protection Agency for the coordination and
implementation of intraagency environmental justice strategies.
(4) Recommend procedures for collecting, maintaining, analyzing,
and coordinating information relating to an environmental justice
strategy.
(5) Recommend procedures to ensure that public documents, notices,
and public hearings relating to human health or the environment are
concise, understandable, and readily accessible to the public. The
recommendation shall include guidance for determining when it is
appropriate for the California Environmental Protection Agency to
translate crucial public documents, notices, and hearings relating to
human health or the environment for limited-English-speaking
populations.
(6) Hold public meetings to receive and respond to public comments
regarding recommendations required pursuant to this section, prior
to the finalization of the recommendations. The California
Environmental Protection Agency shall provide public notice of the
availability of draft recommendations at least one month prior to the
public meetings.
(7) Make recommendations on other matters needed to assist the
agency in developing an intraagency environmental justice strategy.

71114. (a) The Secretary for Environmental Protection shall, on or
before January 1, 2002, convene an advisory group to assist the
working group described in Section 71113 by providing recommendations
and information to, and serving as a resource for, the working
group. The Secretary for Environmental Protection shall appoint
members to the advisory group according to the following categories:
(1) Two representatives of local or regional land use planning
agencies.
(2) Two representatives from air pollution control districts or
air quality management districts.
(3) Two representatives from certified unified program agencies
(CUPAs).
(4) Two representatives from environmental organizations.
(5) Four representatives from the business community, two from a
small business and two from a large business, except that three of
these representatives may be from an association that represents
small or large businesses, and at least one of the small business
representatives shall be from an association that represents small
businesses. As used in this paragraph, "small business" has the
meaning given that term by subdivision (c) of Section 1028.5 of the
Code of Civil Procedure, and a large business is any business other
than a small business.
(6) Two representatives from community organizations.
(7) One representative from a federally recognized Indian tribe.
(8) Two representatives from environmental justice organizations.
(b) The advisory group may form subcommittees to address specific
types of environmental program areas. The California Environmental
Protection Agency shall provide a reasonable per diem for attendance
at advisory committee meetings by advisory committee members from
nonprofit organizations.

71114.1. After the California Environmental Protection Agency
develops the strategy pursuant to Section 71113 and before December
31, 2003, each board, department, and office within the agency shall,
in coordination with the Secretary for Environmental Protection and
the Director of the Office of Planning and Research, review its
programs, policies, and activities and identify and address any gaps
in its existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the
achievement of environmental justice.

71115. The Secretary for Environmental Protection shall, not later
than January 1, 2004, and every three years thereafter, prepare and
submit to the Governor and the Legislature a report on the
implementation of this part.

71116. (a) The Environmental Justice Small Grant Program is hereby
established under the jurisdiction of the California Environmental
Protection Agency. The California Environmental Protection Agency
shall adopt regulations for the implementation of this section. These
regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Specific criteria and procedures for the implementation of the
program.
(2) A requirement that each grant recipient submit a written
report to the agency documenting its expenditures of the grant funds
and the results of the funded project.
(3) Provisions promoting the equitable distribution of grant funds
in a variety of areas throughout the state, with the goal of making
grants available to organizations that will attempt to address
environmental justice issues.
(b) The purpose of the program is to provide grants to eligible
community groups, including, but not limited to, community-based,
grassroots nonprofit organizations that are located in areas
adversely affected by environmental pollution and hazards and that
are involved in work to address environmental justice issues.
(c) (1) Both of the following are eligible to receive moneys from
the fund.
(A) A nonprofit entity.
(B) A federally recognized tribal government.
(2) For the purposes of this section, "nonprofit entity" means any
corporation, trust, association, cooperative, or other organization
that meets all of the following criteria:
(A) Is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service,
charitable, or other similar purposes in the public interest.
(B) Is not organized primarily for profit.
(C) Uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand, or any
combination thereof, its operations.
(D) Is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the
federal Internal Revenue Code, or is able to provide evidence to the
agency that the state recognizes the organization as a nonprofit
entity.
(3) For the purposes of this section, "nonprofit entity"
specifically excludes an organization that is a tax-exempt
organization under Section 501 (c)(4) of the federal Internal Revenue
Code.
(d) Individuals may not receive grant moneys from the fund.
(e) Grant recipients shall use the grant award to fund only the
project described in the recipient's application. Recipients shall
not use the grant funding to shift moneys from existing or proposed
projects to activities for which grant funding is prohibited under
subdivision (g).
(f) Grants shall be awarded on a competitive basis for projects
that are based in communities with the most significant exposure to
pollution. Grants shall be limited to any of the following purposes
and no other:
(1) Resolve environmental problems through distribution of
information.
(2) Identify improvements in communication and coordination among
agencies and stakeholders in order to address the most significant
exposure to pollution.
(3) Expand the understanding of a community about the
environmental issues that affect their community.
(4) Develop guidance on the relative significance of various
environmental risks.
(5) Promote community involvement in the decisionmaking process
that affects the environment of the community.
(6) Present environmental data for the purposes of enhancing
community understanding of environmental information systems and
environmental information.
(g) (1) The agency shall not award grants for, and grant funding
shall not be used for, any of the following:
(A) Other state grant programs.
(B) Lobbying or advocacy activities relating to any federal,
state, regional, or local legislative, quasi-legislative,
adjudicatory, or quasi-judicial proceeding involving development or
adoption of statutes, guidelines, rules, regulations, plans or any
other governmental proposal, or involving decisions concerning
siting, permitting, licensing, or any other governmental action.
(C) Litigation, administrative challenges, enforcement action, or
any type of adjudicatory proceeding.
(D) Funding of a lawsuit against any governmental entity.
(E) Funding of a lawsuit against a business or a project owned by
a business.
(F) Matching state or federal funding.
(G) Performance of any technical assessment for purposes of
opposing or contradicting a technical assessment prepared by a public
agency.
(2) An organization's use of funds from a grant awarded under this
section to educate a community regarding an environmental justice
issue or a governmental process does not preclude that organization
from subsequent lobbying or advocacy concerning that same issue or
governmental process, as long as the lobbying or advocacy is not
funded by a grant awarded under this section.
(h) The agency shall review, evaluate, and select grant
recipients, and screen grant applications to ensure that they meet
the requirements of this section.
(i) The maximum amount of a grant provided pursuant to this
section may not exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).
(j) For the purposes of this section, "environmental justice" has
the same meaning as defined in Section 65040.12 of the Government
Code.
(k) This section shall be implemented only during fiscal years for
which an appropriation is provided for the purposes of this section
in the annual Budget Act or in another statute.