By David McCoard
Residents of disadvantaged communities and communities of color acutely feel left behind and dumped upon by regulators and industry. This is true of local refinery communities such as Richmond, where residents live with polluted air that leads to a host of devastating health impacts.
As I reported in the last issue of the Yodeler, this summer’s extension of the state’s cap-and-trade program included a provision that prevents local air districts (like our own Bay Area Air Quality Management District, or BAAQMD) from passing regulations designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. That provision has further complicated the passage of a rule capping refinery emissions of greenhouse gases here in the Bay Area.
A silver lining to this legislative setback was the passage of Assembly Bill 617 as a companion to the cap-and-trade bill. The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Christine Garcia, represents the majority-Latino district in Southeast Los Angeles where she grew up. The area is heavily impacted by freeways, rail yards, and heavy industry. Garcia became a community organizer and activist for her community’s environmental justice issues before joining the Assembly in 2012. Now in the Assembly, Garcia continues to advocate for environmental justice. She wrote AB 617 to address the pain of communities like hers that are impacted by industrial air pollution.
Governor Brown signed AB 617 into law in July. The new law includes these broad elements:
- The California Air Resources Board (CARB) must develop a pollution-monitoring plan by October 1, 2018 and select priority communities in which they should be implemented. The regional air districts (in our case, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, or BAAQMD) will be required to deploy a monitoring system by July 1, 2019.
- By October 1, 2018, CARB must prepare a statewide strategy to reduce emissions in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden.
- Within one year of the state board’s selection of these communities, regional air districts must adopt community emissions reduction programs.
- The state will create a clearinghouse of “best available retrofit control technologies” — equipment and methods for meeting the highest standards for pollution control — and require districts not meeting air quality standards to mandate this technology for stationary sources.
- Grants will be given to community-based organizations to support these programs.
- Maximum penalties for violation of air pollution laws will increase on January 1, 2018.
The local Air District (BAAQMD) has already made headway on some of these requirements. The timelines are aggressive and will require BAAQMD to refocus its resources. Staff is working to identify appropriate staffing increases and capital needs. They’re working with the State and other air districts to find reimbursement for expected expenses.
BAAQMD will have help from CARB’s Community Air Protection Program, newly created to implement AB 617. The program will work closely with local air districts, community groups, community members, environmental organizations, and regulated industries to reduce pollution in the state’s most impacted communities.
In October and early November CARB conducted four informational meetings around the state to introduce the program and to gather input from community members and organizations. At the October 17 meeting in Oakland, staff emphasized their desire to work in a bottom-up manner to incorporate community input into the program, as people had spoken up to demand.
What You Can Do
- Study AB 617
- Follow BAAQMD in its work to address emissions and implement AB 617 at www.baaqmd.gov. Study Board and committee agendas and reports, and rules under development
- Attend and speak at BAAQMD Board and committee meetings at 375 Beale Street, San Francisco
- Attend meetings of the BAAQMD network of which the Sierra Club is a member. We work with the District to reduce emissions in the community. We meet in Richmond (schedule and place are variable)
- Watch for meetings with CARB staff on the AB 617 Community Air Protection Program
- Contact Dave McCoard at dmccoard@hotmail.com to learn more or get involved
Photo: State Assemblywoman Christine Garcia (center, in white) and constituents rally for clean air. Photo courtesy Christine Garcia via @asmgarcia on Instagram.