Public Meeting to Consider Assembly Bill 617 Community Air Protection Program – Community Emissions Reduction Program for the South Los Angeles Community

EN ESPANOL

The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) will conduct a public meeting at the date and time noted below to consider the Community Emissions Reduction Program (CERP) for the South Los Angeles Community.

Date:                August 25, 2022
Time:                No earlier than 4:00 p.m.
In-Person Location:

California Air Resources Board
Byron Sher Auditorium
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814

Remote Option: Zoom

This public meeting may continue at 8:30 a.m., on August 26, 2022. Please consult the public agenda, which will be posted ten days before the August 25, 2022, Board Meeting, for important details, including, but not limited to, the day in which this item will be considered and how the public can participate via Zoom.

This item will be heard at the meeting of the Board, which will commence at 9:00 a.m., August 25, 2022. Please note that this item will start no earlier than 4:00 p.m. on August 25, 2022. Please consult the agenda for the order of items.

Background

Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (C. Garcia, Chapter 136, 2017), signed into law in July 2017, requires new community-focused actions to reduce air pollution and improve public health in communities that experience disproportionate burdens from exposure to air pollutants. To implement this statute, CARB established the Community Air Protection Program (Program), whose foundation is collaboration with communities and stakeholders to advance environmental justice and equity.

At its September 27, 2018, hearing, the Board approved the “Community Air Protection Blueprint” (Blueprint), which contains detailed requirements for community emissions reduction programs, community air monitoring plans, and other elements of the Program (Resolution 18-33.) At the same meeting, the Board also selected the first ten communities to implement community emissions reduction programs, community air monitoring, or both. Since then, the Board has selected seven additional communities for these targeted local actions.

Once CARB selects a community to develop a community emissions reduction program, the local air district must work with the community to develop and adopt a community emissions reduction program. Subsequently, the air district must submit the community emissions reduction program to CARB for consideration.

CARB selected South Los Angeles for a community air monitoring plan and a community emissions reduction program on February 25, 2021. The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) with the co-leadership of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, Strategic Concepts in Organizing, and Policy Education, and Watts Clean Air & Energy, worked with community steering committee to develop the Community Emissions Reduction Plan for the South Los Angeles Community (Plan) to reduce exposure to air pollution in the community. The SCAQMD Governing Board adopted the Plan on June 3, 2022.

CARB staff reviewed the Plan to determine whether it complies with the minimum criteria the legislation and the Blueprint established for community emissions reduction programs; reflects community priorities; and sets a foundation to deliver emissions and exposure reductions in the South Los Angeles Community. CARB staff also met with a subset of community steering committee members in June 2022 in one-on-one phone calls to hear directly from the South Los Angeles community members and other local stakeholders on their perspectives on the Plan. CARB staff released the South Los Angeles Community Emissions Reduction Program Staff Report on August 4, 2022, which contains a summary of the review and staff recommendations to the Board.

Further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to Terry Allen, Air Pollution Specialist at (951) 542-3057or Adrianna Hernandez, Air Pollution Specialist at (951) 542-3490 (Spanish).

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING – AUGUST 25, 2022

Written Comment Period & Comment Submittal

The Board will hear about the contents of the CERP and consider CARB staff’s recommendations for Board action contained in the South Los Angeles Community Emissions Reduction Program Staff Report. Copies of the report may be obtained from CARB’s website beginning August 4, 2022.  Please contact Bradley Bechtold, Regulations Coordinator, at Bradley.Bechtold@arb.ca.gov or (279) 208-7266 if you need physical copies of the report.

Interested members of the public may present comments orally or in writing at 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 August 15, 2022, and addressed to the following:

Clerks’ 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.