Public Meeting to Receive Informational Update on Assembly Bill 617 Statewide Strategy

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Public Meeting to Receive Informational Update on Assembly Bill 617 Statewide Strategy


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The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) will conduct a public hearing at the date and time noted below to hear an Informational Update on the Assembly Bill (AB) 617 Community Air Protection Program Statewide Strategy.

Date:                May 19, 2022
Time:                No earlier than 4:00 p.m.

In-Person
Location:           California Air Resources Board
                          Haagen-Smit Auditorium
                          4001 Iowa Avenue
                          Riverside, California 92507

Remote 
Option:               Zoom

This public meeting may continue at 8:30 a.m., on May 20, 2022. Please consult the public agenda, which will be posted ten days before the May 19, 2022, Board Meeting, for important details, including, but not limited to, the day in which this item will be considered, how to participate via Zoom, and any appropriate direction regarding a possible remote-only Board Meeting if needed. Please note that this Informational Update on the AB 617 Community Air Protection Statewide Strategy Board item will start no earlier than 4:00 p.m. on May 19, 2022. Please consult the agenda for the order of items.


Background

The Board will hear an informational item about the update of the AB 617 (C. Garcia, Ch. 136, Stats. 2017) statewide strategy, known as the Program Blueprint, through a representative panel of the AB 617 Consultation Group (Consultation Group) and a staff presentation. Panelists will share perspectives and insights gained from experiences with the Community Air Protection Program, participation in the Consultation Group, and feedback on the People’s Blueprint, drafted by a number of environmental justice (EJ) and community leaders. Staff will share plans for the revision of the Program Blueprint including an update on efforts to re-envision the program to bring benefits to more disproportionately impacted communities.

California’s air quality programs continue to significantly improve public health statewide through various measures such as regional air quality planning, advancements in technology-based solutions, and risk reduction efforts near industrial facilities. However, despite these efforts, certain communities, particularly low-income and communities of color, still experience environmental and health inequities from air and other forms of pollution. AB 617 was signed into law in July 2017. CARB established the Community Air Protection Program to implement AB 617, which requires new community-focused action to reduce health-harming emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden.
AB 617 requires the Board "adopt a statewide strategy to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden.” (Health and Safety Code § 44391.2(b).) The statewide strategy, also referred to as the Program Blueprint, guides AB 617 implementation. CARB must update the statewide strategy every five years (no later than September 2023).

The statute requires CARB to consult with the Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants, air districts, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, environmental justice organizations, affected industry, and other interested stakeholders in the development of the statewide strategy. CARB convened the Consultation Group in 2018. The Consultation Group, chaired by Board Member Dr. John Balmes, formed a subcommittee in 2020 to begin a revision of the current Program Blueprint. In 2021, a number of EJ leaders within the subcommittee known as the Writer’s Group, stepped forward to draft the People’s Blueprint for Community Air Protection.

The People’s Blueprint identifies recommended changes to the Program Blueprint that would better empower community members, improve governance of community steering committees, and apply a racial equity lens to the work of achieving emissions and exposure reductions in disproportionately impacted communities. The People’s Blueprint is a significant starting point for review, discussion, and comment by the full Consultation Group, air districts, and the public on updates to the Blueprint.

The update to the statewide strategy will also include other models to support community focused strategies and better serve more overburdened communities in the State.

Further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to Julia Luongo, Air Pollution Specialist at (279) 208-7721 or Liliana Nuñez, Air Pollution Specialist at (951) 542-3313 (Spanish).

Notice of Public Meeting


Written Comment Period & Comment Submittal

No action is requested for this informational item. CARB welcomes public comment on this informational item, including public comment on the People’s Blueprint. Interested members of the public may present comments orally or in writing during the meeting and may provide comments by postal mail or by electronic submittal before the meeting. To be considered by the Board, written comments not submitted during the meeting, must be received no later than May 9, 2022, and addressed to the following:

Clerk's Office, California Air Resources Board
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814

Electronic Submittal

Please note that under the California Public Records Act (Government Code section 6250 et seq.), your written and oral comments, attachments, and associated contact information (e.g., your address, phone, email, etc.) become part of the public record and can be released to the public upon request.