The Fullerton City Council voted unanimously to adopt the city’s first Environmental Justice Element (EJE), also known as Appendix N, at its meeting last Tuesday. The EJE represents a strategic initiative to comply with new requirements established by Senate Bill 1000 (SB 1000), which mandates that cities or counties with identified disadvantaged communities implement environmental justice goals, policies, and programs.
The adopted plan aligns with government codes that require the EJE to reduce health risks, promote robust community participation in decision-making processes, and prioritize municipal investments in programs directly related to environmental justice. Identifying disadvantaged communities involves criteria passed down from the California Environmental Protection Agency, which consider local data such as median income, pollution burden, health surveys, and air monitoring.
City planners identified nine disadvantaged communities within Fullerton, primarily concentrated across three distinct areas: Southeast Fullerton, Southwest Fullerton, and the Industrial Corridor. These areas were evaluated using CalEnviroScreen, a tool that provides scores for communities’ pollution levels and their demographic vulnerability to environmental risks. CalEnviroScreen factors in populations with conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular diseases, low birthweight, and diabetes, where higher scores indicate elevated levels and risks of pollution.
Disadvantaged communities in Fullerton rank among the top 25% of CalEnviroScreen scorers. Observations revealed that these communities experience exposure to toxic releases from industrial facilities and drinking water contaminants, correlating with Fullerton’s oil industries and areas concentrated around railroads and freeways.
The EJE outlines eight primary goals addressing diverse environmental concerns. These goals encompass reducing climate change vulnerability, alongside enhanced air, noise, water, and odor control measures. Additionally, the EJE aims to ensure that residents in these communities have equitable access to housing, healthy food options, parks, public facilities, and transportation networks.
As part of its action plan, the EJE specifies ongoing city efforts to monitor and actively combat community pollutants. It also mandates the monitoring of both new and existing programs to ensure equitable access among all communities. To meet SB 1000’s requirement for increased participation, the EJE prioritizes enhancing civic engagement in land use and environmental decision-making processes.
During the public presentation of the plan, Senior Planner Yan Gao shared survey results indicating that only 45% of respondents were familiar with the term “environmental justice,” which the state defines as “the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” Community concerns highlighted in surveys and public comments included air, water, and land pollution, as well as land use issues. Surveyed community priorities featured affordable housing, cleaner streets, and increasing green areas. Public comments emailed to planners before the meeting specifically cited the Coyote Hills Golf Course as a source of noise pollution impacting nearby residential areas.
In accordance with state law, EJE planners engaged in community outreach by contacting local tribal leaders. The City of Fullerton plans to submit the adopted Environmental Justice Element to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation by November.
Also during the same meeting, city planners introduced a proposed ordinance designed to place an irrigation ban on non-functional turf across Fullerton. Non-functional turf is defined as turf not typically walked on, such as that found in street right-of-ways or surrounding parking lots. The proposed ordinance would allow for specific exemptions, including non-functional turf around cemeteries and turf that necessitates irrigation for reasons of public health or the health of trees. The motion to adopt this ordinance and update municipal water codes passed unanimously. This ordinance must be brought back to the city council at a future date for its formal adoption into the municipal code.
