General Plan Guidelines: AB 1553 requires the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to incorporate environmental justice concepts into the current update to General Plan guidelines. The Guidelines assist city and county staff in the development of the area general plans.

The comment period for the draft guidelines ended on August 8. The draft guidelines include a chapter entitled, “Sustainable Development and Environmental Justice.” The entire draft can be found on OPR’s website at http://www.opr.ca.gov.

EJ Report for the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA): The draft report entitled, Recommendations of the Cal/EPA Advisory Committee on Environmental Justice to the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice has been distributed for public comment. Written comments were due to Cal/EPA in mid-September. The draft report is available at the Cal/EPA website: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/EnvJustice.

The draft report was formally presented to the Interagency Working Group for Environmental Justice in September. The Working Group includes the heads of Cal/EPA and its member departments, boards, and offices as well as the chief of OPR. The statutorily-mandated report assists Cal/EPA and the Interagency Working Group to implement effective environmental justice activities.

EJ Fundamentals Class: OPR offers a monthly training class free and open to staff of public agencies. The class is held on the fourth Tuesday of each month. “Fundamentals of EJ” provides an overview of the environmental justice movement and discusses—among other topics—the history, legal framework, and issues concerning EJ. A California case study is also utilized. For more information on these monthly classes or to register contact, Tricia Valenzuela at 916.322.3932 or Tricia.Valenzuela@opr.ca.gov.

EJ Presentations: Staff of OPR’s EJ Project regularly speak to organizations regarding environmental justice. Over the last few months, EJ staff have spoken to the Regional Council of Rural Counties and the Local Government Partnership. In the near future, EJ presentations to the League of California Cities and the state Department of Water Resources are scheduled. To schedule a speaker for your organization, contact Bonnie Chiu at Bonnie.Chiu@opr.ca.gov or 916.323.9033.