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newsrel -- Air Resources Board adopts interim guidelines for investing cap-and-trade proceeds in California's most disadvantaged communities

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 15:04:51
Please consider the following news release from the California
Air Resources Board: http://bit.ly/1s9gS8v
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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2014

NEWS RELEASE 14-70

CONTACT:

Stanley Young
(916) 322-2990
syoung@arb.ca.gov


Air Resources Board adopts interim guidelines for investing
cap-and-trade proceeds in California’s most disadvantaged
communities

Guidelines ensure programs that reduce greenhouse gases also
maximize benefits for state’s hardest hit neighborhoods

SACRAMENTO — The California Air Resources Board today adopted
guidelines for state and local agencies to maximize the benefits
to disadvantaged communities of investments funded by proceeds
from the State’s cap and trade program.   

The Interim Guidelines were developed to address the requirements
of Senate Bill 535 (De León) which directs state and local
agencies to make significant investments that improve
California’s most vulnerable communities. That investment comes
from the proceeds of quarterly cap-and-trade auctions held by
ARB.  

"The goal of this program is to ensure that California's most
disadvantaged communities receive direct benefit from our
commitment to cut global warming pollution,” said ARB Chairman
Mary D. Nichols.  “These guidelines provide accountability for
investments that will improve quality of life for people living
in low-income areas suffering from high concentrations of
environmental contamination."  

The State’s portion of the proceeds of the cap-and-trade auctions
are appropriated by the Legislature as part of the State’s annual
budget. For the current 2014-15 budget they total $832 million.
Under SB 535, one-quarter of those proceeds are to be used for
the benefit of the State’s disadvantaged communities, including
at least 10 percent to be invested directly in those communities.
 

This approach is the culmination of a continuing focus on
disadvantaged communities as an essential underpinning of the
State’s efforts to fight climate change. AB 32, for example,
includes the determination of impacts on these communities as an
essential statutory consideration for every climate program
designed to reduce greenhouse gases. 

To inform the overall process under SB 535, the State is using
CalEnviroScreen (California Communities Environmental Health
Screening Tool), a science-based tool that identifies communities
most burdened by pollution from multiple sources and most
vulnerable to its effects. The tool, developed by the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, ranks all 8,000 census
tracts in the State on a scale of 1 to 100 with the higher
numbers indicating communities with the highest burden and
vulnerability. (A census tract encompasses roughly 4,000 people.)


Later this month the Secretary of the California Environmental
Protection Agency will identify which of the 8,000 census tracts
will be considered disadvantaged for the purposes of SB 535.

Three public workshops were recently conducted to gather input on
ARB’s Interim Guidance document and CalEPA’s approach to using
CalEnviroScreen to identify disadvantaged communities. More than
400 people attended the workshops in Fresno, Los Angeles and
Oakland and a public briefing in Mecca, and the agencies also
received multiple written comments.  

While ARB develops the overall guidance under SB 535, each agency
receiving auction proceeds for investment remains responsible for
administering its own program or programs, consistent with
statutory direction and applicable ARB guidance. The decisions
about how to design programs, select projects for funding, and
implement projects rest with each agency, directed by its
executive priorities and supported by its staff expertise. 

ARB also developed guidance for an expenditure record that
describes the proposed use of the monies. The expenditure record
ensures that all expenditures of auction proceeds further the
purposes of AB 32 and meet other statutory requirements. It will
also be a valuable tool for maintaining accountability throughout
the life of the program. 
 
The Interim Guidance documents on investments to benefit
disadvantaged communities adopted today, and the expenditure
record, will be followed by a multi-stage public process over the
coming months by ARB to develop full funding guidelines. These
will include direction on metrics and quantification, as well as
tracking and reporting for relevant projects. The full guidelines
will also benefit from lessons learned in early implementation of
the investment program and may include changes to the Interim
Guidelines that will apply to subsequent appropriations. 

Interim Guidelines: http://bit.ly/1Dm4VPp

CalEnviroScreen: http://bit.ly/1uLj9V4

2014-15 Budget Cap-and-Trade expenditures: http://bit.ly/XNU4wQ


California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.

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