LegAlert #97-10

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Assembly Appropriations To Consider Environmental Justice
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The legislature will recess for a month starting Friday, July 18,
provided it first passes next year's budget. Both houses will
reconvene on August 18.

** SB 1113 (Solis) ** In a state burdened with the largest number
of toxic chemical accidents in the nation, environmental justice is a
critical issue that can no longer be ignored. SB 1113, introduced
by Senator Hilda Solis (D-El Monte), would make an important
first step towards environmental justice by requiring the adoption of
guidelines under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
to identify and mitigate disproportionate effects of projects on
ethnic and low-income communities.

California has a long history of placing major industrial facilities
such as oil refineries, chemical plants, and hazardous waste facilities
near predominantly low-income and ethnic communities, exposing
those communities to the risk of industrial accidents as well as
ongoing groundwater contamination and air and water pollution.

SB 1113 addresses this historic inequity by declaring that "people
of all races, cultures, and income must be treated fairly with respect
to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of
environmental statutes, ordinances, regulations, and public
policies." By creating specific guidelines, SB 1113 would make it
easier for an agency to address environmental justice matters in the
evaluation of a proposed project. Further, the bill would require
the Office of Planning and Research to identify communities and
populations disproportionately affected by high and adverse
environmental effects.

STATUS: SB 1113 will next be heard by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee, and then will move to the Assembly
floor. It may be heard in Appropriations next Wednesday, July 16,
but it will not make it to the Assembly floor until late August, after
summer recess.

ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Assemblymembers and urge
them to support SB 1113 (Solis), which would incorporate
environmental justice into the CEQA process. Tell them that
environmental justice legislation is long overdue, and that SB 1113
offers a workable approach for guiding public agencies in their
planning and policy decisions. Also contact Assemblymember
Migden, chair of Assembly Appropriations, and let her know of
your support for this bill.

** AB 667 (Lempert) ** AB 667, described in LegAlert #97-2,
would expand the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act to include
inland waterways. AB 667 has been amended to specifically target
spills from oil pipelines, large oil storage tanks, oil refineries, and
railroads.

STATUS: AB 667 will be heard in Senate Appropriations either
next week or after recess, and then on the Senate Floor in late
August, after summer recess.

ACTION NEEDED: Contact your state Senators and urge them to
support AB 667, which would criminalize the discharge of oil into
inland waterways and provide a strong legal deterrent to intentional
and negligent practices that cause pollution to rivers and streams.

** AB 595 (Brown) ** AB 595, described in LegAlert #97-4,
would authorize the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to
impose, with voter approval, a gas tax to fund regional
transportation initiatives within the Commission's nine-county
jurisdiction.

STATUS: AB 595 will be heard by the Senate Transportation
Committee on Wednesday, July 15.

ACTION NEEDED: Contact Senator Kopp, committee chair, and
the other members of the Senate Transportation Committee
(Kelley, Ayala, Costa, Hayden, Karnette, Polanco, Monteith, and
Rainey) and urge them to support AB 595. Tell them that the bill
encourages a proactive, collaborative approach to transportation
planning, and puts increased control of transportation facilities into
the hands of the people who use them.

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Address your letters to: Assembly Member/Senator ______
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

To find out who your state legislators are, call:
(916) 445-3614 (Assembly)
(916) 445-4251 (Senate)

To find out the email addresses for your state legislators, check the
following Web pages:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7.htm
http://www.sen.ca.gov/htbin/seninfo/sen.senator

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