Environmental Justice Task Force and Advisory Council

The following sample legislation is based on California SB 89 (2000). Other ideas came from Florida, New York, and Maryland bills addressing environmental justice; each are posted on SERC’s Environmental Justice State Activity Page.

An Act to Establish an Environmental Justice Task Force and Advisory Council

Summary: This Act requires each state Agency to develop an environmental justice strategy. This Act also creates an Environmental Justice State Agency Task Force and State Advisory Council. The Task Force, which will be a body of state Agency representatives, will monitor programs that affect health and the environment, and revise programs or policies that create environmental injustice. The Advisory Council, comprised of representatives from local and regional environmental groups, environmental non-governmental organizations, business, and community and tribal groups, will advise the Task Force and serve as a forum to discuss needed improvements within state programs, policies, and customs in an effort to achieve state environmental justice goals.

The People of the State of <insert your state name here>, represented in the state Legislature, do enact as follows:

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act shall be known and may be cited as the Environmental Justice Task Force and Advisory Council Act.

Section 2. Legislative Declarations and Findings.

(A) The Legislature hereby declares that it is the policy of the state to ensure the equitable
distribution of environmental benefits and the fair and responsible avoidance of human health and environmental risks to all of <insert your state name here> citizens and communities.

(B) The Legislature finds that racial and ethnic minority populations and low-income communities bear a disproportionate share of the health and environmental burdens and risks caused by polluted air and contaminated water and by solid waste landfills, hazardous waste facilities, wastewater treatment plants, waste incinerators, and other projects.

(C) The Legislature further finds that such disproportionate share of burdens and risks may be the result of, among other things, regional variations in the economic status and racial make-up of local communities, local zoning and siting decisions, the failure to consider fully the cumulative impacts during environmental review, and past invidious discrimination.

(D) The Legislature therefore finds that state government must identify and minimize, to the fullest extent practicable, disproportionate adverse human health and environmental effects caused or worsened by their programs, policies, and activities in order to achieve environmental justice.

Section 3. Definitions.

(A) “Agency” means any state department, division, board, commission, or bureau of any state department, or any public benefiting corporation at least one of whose members is appointed by the Governor.

(B) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Quality <or insert your state’s equivalent>.

(C) “Environmental Justice” means the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws and policies.

(D) “Environmental Justice Coordinator” means the Agency officer, designated by the head of each Agency to develop the Agency’s environmental justice strategy pursuant to this Act and to ensure its effective and consistent implementation.

Section 4. State Agency Responsibilities.

(A) The head of each Agency shall designate a member of such Agency executive staff or high level management as its Environmental Justice Coordinator. The Environmental Justice Coordinator shall develop, in consultation with the Task Force, the Agency’s environmental justice strategy, and shall have primary responsibility for its implementation. Each Agency shall provide information on environmental justice to the public in English, Spanish, and other languages as deemed appropriate.

(B) The strategy shall contain methods that will identify and address any gaps in the Agency’s existing programs, policies, activities, or customs that may impede the achievement of environmental justice, which shall include the following:

(1) Promote enforcement of all statutes within its jurisdiction in a manner that ensures the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and income levels, including racial and ethnic minority populations and low-income populations in the state;

(2) Ensure greater public participation in the Agency’s development, adoption, and implementation of environmental regulations and policies;

(3) Identify differential patterns of consumption of natural resources among people of different socioeconomic classifications for programs within the Agency, when applicable;

(4) Consult with and review any information received from the Task Force established to assist the Agency in meeting the requirements of this section;

(5) Implement recommendations from the Task Force and Advisory Council in an effort to fulfill environmental justice strategies and goals;

(C) Each Agency shall provide information on its strategy to achieve environmental justice to the public in English, Spanish, and other languages as deemed appropriate.

Section 5. Department of Environmental Quality Duties.

The Department, in designing its mission for programs, policies, and standards, shall meet all requirements previously sited in the Act for State Agencies, as well as, 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 low-income and racial and ethnic minority populations;

(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 racial and ethnic minority populations and low-income populations in the state;

(C) Ensure greater public participation in the Department’s development, adoption, and implementation of environmental regulations and policies;

(D) Improve research and data collection for programs within the Department relating to the health of, and environment of, people of all races, cultures, and income levels, including racial and ethnic minority and low-income populations of the state;

(E) Coordinate its efforts or share information with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Working Group on Environmental Justice, in an effort to bring assistance and resources to economically and environmentally distressed communities;

(F) Identify differential patterns of consumption of natural resources among people of different socioeconomic classifications for programs within the Department;

(G) Consult with and review any information received from the Task Force established to assist the Department in meeting the requirements of this section;

(H) Implement recommendations from the Task Force and Advisory Council in an effort to fulfill environmental justice strategies and goals; and

(I) Coordinate the implementation and provide for the environmental justice strategies.

Section 6. Environmental Justice Task Force.

(A) The Department shall convene a Task Force on Environmental Justice nine months from the effective date of this Act to assist the Agencies in developing strategies for identifying and addressing any gaps in existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of environmental justice.

(B) The Task Force shall be composed of the Environmental Justice Coordinators from the offices of the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the State Air Resources Board, the 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, the Director of Planning and Research <or insert applicable environmental quality and natural resource Departments for your state>, and the chairperson of the Environmental Justice Advisory Council or chair’s designee.

(C) The Environmental Justice Coordinators will be re-appointed every five years <recommended>, and the duties of the Task Force will be among the other duties as designated to them in the course of their work for the state.

(D) The Task Force shall do all of the following:

(1) Recommend criteria for identifying and addressing any gaps in existing state programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of environmental justice;

(2) Recommend procedures and provide guidance to the Department for the coordination and implementation of environmental justice strategies;

(3) Recommend procedures for collecting, maintaining, analyzing, and coordinating information relating to an environmental justice strategy;

(4) 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 an Agency to translate crucial public documents, notices, and hearings relating to human health or the environment for limited or non-English speaking populations;

(5) 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 Department shall provide public notice of the availability of draft recommendations at least 30 days prior to the public meetings;

(6) Develop a comprehensive inventory of solid waste landfills, hazardous waste facilities and sites, brownfields, wastewater treatment plants, waste incinerators, and other similar projects in <insert your state name here> that may adversely affect racial and ethnic minority populations and low-income communities;

(7) Review state environmental and other laws and regulations to determine if they adequately identify, evaluate, and prevent the inequitable distribution of adverse human health and environmental impacts;

(8) Develop and comment to the Governor and the Legislature on legislative, regulatory, or policy changes that would enhance the state’s policy of environmental justice;

(9) Make recommendations on other matters needed to assist the Agencies in developing an environmental justice strategy; and

(10) Elect one representative to facilitate meetings and delegate tasks. This representative will serve a two-year term.

Section 7. Advisory Council Membership.

(A) The Governor shall convene an Advisory Council nine months from the effective date
of this Act, to assist the Task Force described in Section 3 of this Act to provide recommendations and information to, and to serve as a resource for the Task Force.

(B) The Governor shall appoint members to the Advisory Council according to the
following categories:

(1) Two representatives of local or regional land use planning Agencies, who will be re-appointed every two years.

(2) Two representatives from air and water districts <or insert your state’s equivalent>, who will be re-appointed every two years.

(3) Two representatives from environmental non-governmental organizations, who will be re-appointed every two years.

(C) The President of the Senate shall appoint the following members to the Advisory Council:

(1) Two representatives from the business community, who will be re-appointed every year.

(2) Two representatives from community health, social service, or public interest organizations, who will be re-appointed every year.

(3) Two representatives from state academic institutions specializing in or knowledgeable about environmental justice issues, who will be re-appointed every three years.

(D) The Speaker of the House shall appoint the following members to the Advisory Council:

(1) Eight members from environmental justice groups from community associations, groups established in affected communities, or non-profit advocacy groups concerned with the health and environment of communities of color or low-income communities, including federally recognized Indian tribal group representatives. These representatives will be re-appointed every two years.

(E) The Advisory Council may form subcommittees to address specific types of environmental justice program areas.

(F) The Advisory Council will elect one person to act as the chairperson for meeting facilitation, as representative to the Governor, and at the state Task Force meetings. The council shall elect a chairperson by majority vote of members present.

(G) The Department shall provide a reasonable per diem for attendance at Advisory Council meetings for Advisory Council members from non-profit organizations. The Department will also use existing resources for administrative tasks, including one designated assistant to the Council who will facilitate the initial meeting of the Council until a chairperson is elected. All Council members will be eligible for travel expense reimbursement for meeting attendance.

(H) The chairperson, following Advisory Council guidance, will provide recommendations to the Task Force and Governor as needed to implement environmental justice strategies.

Section 8. Advisory Council Duties.

The Advisory Council shall fulfill the following duties:

(A) Coordinate with, provide guidance to, and serve as a clearinghouse for state Agencies and the state Task Force in the development of environmental justice strategies, to ensure that state government programs, activities, and policies are administered, interpreted, and enforced consistently, effectively, and fairly; and

(B) The Advisory Council members will avail themselves to the public through an email address or telephone number, where citizens will be able to discuss their concerns. Members will respond to public comments by bringing salient concerns to the Council.

(C) Develop environmental justice guidance provisions to be submitted to the state permitting Agencies.

(D) Consider the public’s comments through recommendations made to the Task Force.

(E) The Advisory Council will meet as needed to discuss environmental justice issues within the state, and submit at least two (2) subsequent reports per year to the Governor and Task Force with recommendations to be made for state programs or policies.

Section 9. Funding.

Expenses born by implementing this Act shall be assumed by each Agency.

Section 10. Effective Date.

Unless otherwise specified, all provisions in this Act are effective immediately.

Section 11. Severability.

If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Act, which can be given effect without regard to the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Act are severable.