Environmental Justice, Outreach & the Water Boards: WQCC 2014 Update Gita Kapahi Office of Public Participation 1 October 3, 2014

“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, regulations, and policies.” Gov. Code § (e), 1999 California Statutory Definition of Environmental Justice 2

US EPA considers “environmental justice communities” as “a minority or low- income community that bears disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects.” Federal Executive Order 12898, 1994 What is an EJ Community? 3

4 What is a DAC? The State of California defines a disadvantaged community (DAC) as a community in which the Medium Household Income (MHI) is less than 80% of the statewide MHI. Health & Safety Code, Sections A severely DAC is a community with an annual median household income (MHI) that is less than 60% of the statewide MHI. Health & Safety Code, Sections

 More “Gita’s”: Cloning is not possible!  Worked on a BCP to add positions: Unfortunately it was unsuccessful  Established an Outreach Roundtable with all regions, divisions and offices represented  Developing a training module on EJ with the Training Academy WQCC Recap

 Updates to CalEnviroscreen (new version 2.0)  Increased our collaborative efforts with community groups  Established focused outreach efforts on many of the statewide plans and policies with great results  Screened films such as Thirsty for Justice and Living in the Rain Shadow  Continued work on implementing the Human Right to Water Law (AB685) WQCC Recap, cont’d

 AB 1249 IRWMP: nitrate, arsenic, perchlorate or hexavalent chromium contamination Intended to help provide safe DW to small DACs by prioritizing IRWMPs that address contaminants found in GW used as a DW source  AB 1476: Authorizes SWRCB to allocate $500K to Greater Monterey Co for development of an integrated plan to address DW and wastewater needs of DACs in Salinas Valley  SB 1292: Safe DW SRF allows SWRCB to provide grants up to $5mill for Safe DW SRF to public water systems serving severely DACs for construction of safe DW treatment systems 7 EJ Legislation

 This policy provides a framework for CalEPA and its BDOs to improve and maintain communication and collaboration between CalEPA, its BDOs, and California Indian Tribes to further the mission of CalEPA.  This policy also provides a commitment to educate appropriate staff, to become informed about the cultural setting of California Indians, their environmental issues and tribal histories, for the purpose of improving Cal/EPA’s understanding of and connection to California Indian Tribes. CalEPA Policy for Working With California Indian Tribes 8

C AL E NVIRO S CREEN V ERSION *Broad picture of the relative burdens California communities face from environmental pollution *19 indicators of environmental, health, and socioeconomic conditions *Census tract scale *Guidance on potential uses WWW. OEHHA. CA. GOV / EJ / CES 2

10 Indicators Used Pollution BurdenPopulation Characteristics Exposures Environmental Effects Sensitive Populations Socioeconomic Factors  PM 2.5 concentrations  Ozone concentrations  Diesel PM emissions  Drinking water contaminants  Pesticide use  Toxic releases from facilities  Traffic density  Cleanup sites  Groundwater threats (Leaking underground tanks and cleanups)  Impaired water bodies  Solid waste sites and facilities  Hazardous waste facilities and generators  Prevalence of children and elderly  Asthma emergency department visit rate  Rate of low birth weight births  Educational attainment  Linguistic isolation  Poverty: Percent residents below 2x national poverty level  Unemployment 10

EJ Inventory Update 11

2014 EJ Inventory Findings *Demonstrated increased involvement with EJ communities and DACs. *Made efforts to try new approaches to effectively reach DACs. *Have recognized the importance of public outreach and education skills and identified staff who possess them. *Have identified significant opportunities for partnership and collaboration with DACs and laid the groundwork for these efforts. Trends: Most Organizations Have 12

2014 EJ Inventory Findings  Bringing meetings and discussions to EJ communities.  Making meetings available through conference calls and webinars.  Direct communication between Water Board staff and EJ/DAC representatives on technical reports prepared by dischargers.  On-going communication and outreach 13 What Has Worked Well

2014 EJ Inventory Findings  Providing direct technical assistance to DACs.  Developing partnerships with community advocacy groups.  Disproportionately large segments of DACs and small DACs are mistrustful of government agencies, so working through intermediaries is helpful until a level of trust is established. 14 What Has Worked Well, cont’d

2014 EJ Inventory Findings  R1: Klamath River Tribes, Laguna de Santa Rosa Tribes  Note R2: No update provided  R3: California Rural Legal Assistance, EJ Coalition for Water, Rural Community Assistance Corporation  R4: City of Lynwood, Athens Tank Farm/Ujima Village Apartments  R5: Clean Water Action, California Rural Legal Assistance, Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, Rose Foundation, Community Water Center, Greenaction, El Pueblo Para el Aire y El Agua, CBOs representing Lao, Filipino, Latino, Vietnamese & Slavic Groups 15 EJ/Tribal Communities

2014 EJ Inventory Findings  R6: Bishop Paiute Tribe, Hinkley Community, Mojave River Valley, Susanville CSD  R7: Eastern Coachella Valley and Imperial Valley Farmworker & Low Income Mobile Home Park Communities. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians  R8: City of Perris, Communities at Middle Santa Ana River, Rialto Perchlorate Plume, South Archibald TCE Plume  R9: Environmental Health Coalition, Lakeside River Park Conservancy, Imperial Beach 16 EJ/Tribal Communities

Resources Needed *Increased funding for language translation services *Support to make water quality data more accessible to EJ communities *Specialized training on use of Enviroscreen and other tools and resources *More consultation with Cal/EPA and State Board Public Participation Specialists 17

Resources Needed, cont’d *More in-house staff with public participation skills *More assistance in identifying and contacting EJ groups and communities *Contracts with 3 rd parties to serve DACs better *Staff training re: EJ, including sharing information on how Boards’ programs are addressing EJ issues 18

 Update the Water Board EJ Inventory as needed  Provide education & training for Water Board staff  Strengthen overall coordination with EJ & Tribal Communities  Continue cross-media coordination and accountability in partnership with other CalEPA sister BDOs and other agencies Next Steps 19

Next Steps, cont’d 20  Consider Preparing an EJ Work or Implementation Plan  Continue the Dialogue to Incorporate EJ Principles into Water Board Plans and Policies  Revisit EJ at Future MCC & WQCC Meetings

Environmental Justice, Outreach & the Water Boards: WQCC 2014 Update Gita Kapahi Office of Public Participation 21 Thank You