BOARD MEETING DATE: December 2, 2005
AGENDA NO. 17

Annual Environmental Justice Program Review and Proposed Work Plan for FY 2005-06

SYNPOSIS:

Staff has implemented the FY 2004-05 Environmental Justice Program Enhancements as directed by the Board and as described in the attached report. In addition, for the FY 2005-06 Work Plan, staff proposes to continue and enhance ongoing elements from previously adopted work plans, and assess the effectiveness of overall program activities in this area.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, November 10, 2005, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

1. Receive and file this report on the FY 2004-05 Environmental Justice Program Enhancements, as per Attachment 1.
2. Direct staff to proceed with the proposed FY 2005-06 Environmental Justice Program Work Plan as detailed in Attachment 2, for completion by December 2006.
3. Direct staff to make periodic status reports to the appropriate Advisory Groups and Board Committees, as detailed in Attachment 3.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Definition

For District purposes, Environmental Justice means equitable environmental policymaking and enforcement to protect the health of all persons who live or work in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, race, socioeconomic status, or geographic location, from the health effects of air pollution.

Background

As part of the Strategic Alliance Initiatives approved by the Board in January 2002, AQMD staff committed to perform an annual review of AQMD’s Environmental Justice (EJ) Program and to lay out proposed environmental justice-related activities for the following fiscal year. The AQMD has been a leader in identifying and addressing community EJ concerns, particularly as raised by low income, ethnic minority communities who may be disproportionately impacted by localized emissions and mobile source pollutants.

The AQMD has formalized its Environmental Justice Program through periodic program review and the development of an annual Environmental Justice Program Work Plan Enhancements.

FY 2004-05 Program Implementation

At its October 2004 meeting, the Board approved a set of 13 Environmental Justice Enhancements in the categories of Further Reduced Health Risks and Greater Community Access & Involvement, which were intended to further identify and address air quality concerns. Also, the enhancements were to serve as a basis for further outreach and problem-solving activities regarding short- and long-term EJ issues.

As detailed in Attachment 1, staff has completed a majority of these items this year. Some of the enhancements, such as improving public participation in permitting decisions and community briefings on MATES III are of an ongoing nature, due to their scope and timing. These items are being recommended for continuation in the FY 2005-06 EJ Program Enhancements Work Plan.

An EJ Advisory Group was also formed, and approved by the Board’s Administrative Committee in 2005. The group met three times to review, discuss, and provide feedback to staff on their present and future activities regarding EJ. For some of the enhancements, such as MATES III and public participation in permit decisions, working groups were formed, comprised of staff and key stakeholders. In addition, regular reports were made by staff to the Advisory Groups and Board Committees. Board reports and other documents referenced in this report are available at AQMD’s web site www.aqmd.gov by making sequential menu selections Community/Environmental Justice/Work Plan.

FY 2005-06 EJ Program Enhancements Work Plan

AQMD has developed and implemented many pioneering EJ initiatives since the Chairman’s ground-breaking proposal in 1997. As a result of activities over the last eight years, many such action items are being routinely implemented as part of the agency’s normal work practices related to planning, rulemaking, permitting, compliance, public outreach and other functions.

The proposed Work Plan for FY 2005-06 consists of logical extensions or completion of EJ elements previously adopted by the Governing Board. Through this program review, staff will reassess the EJ concepts that have been implemented and determine where AQMD can garner greater health risk reductions, facilitate more public participation, and expanded education of, input from, and outreach to South Coast communities. Attachment 2 contains the staff proposal for FY 2005-06 which consists of four elements, in addition to the program review mentioned above.

Staff has circulated the draft work plan to solicit feedback and suggestions from the public, industry representatives, and other stakeholders. The draft document was released for public comment in September 2005. Presentations were made to the Environmental Justice Advisory Group, Local Government and Small Business Assistance Advisory Group, Ethnic Community Advisory Group and the Home Rule Advisory Group. Staff also met with representatives of environmental justice organizations throughout the four-county region. Comments received have been summarized with staff responses in Attachment 2.

In response to public comment, the Administrative Committee directed staff to review the accomplishments, effectiveness, and results of implementation of previous annual environmental justice program enhancements. The review should also attempt to address benefits to the public, business community, the environment, and the economic growth of the region, in relation to the cost of the programs. The Committee further recommended that staff identify the source of funding for the implementation of the EJ enhancements in the past.

A reporting calendar for the four enhancements has been developed with performance checkpoints and assignments to designated staff offices (Attachment 3).

Resource Impacts

It is anticipated that there will be workload adjustments required relative to implementing the proposed EJ Work Plan. These modifications will be addressed through current budget allocations and staffing whenever possible. Any individual enhancement requiring significant additional resources will be brought to the Board for approval. A total of 0.8 FTE’s is expected to be required to implement the FY 2005-06 Environmental Justice Program Enhancements, and is consistent with the current budget.

Attachment(s) (EXE 69KB)

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