Oppose SB 5141: Environmental Justice Task Force Recommendations

January 18, 2021

In 2019, the Legislature passed a bill creating an environmental justice task force. The task force was mainly made up of environmental and special interests groups and only had one business representative.

Now in 2021, Senate Bill 5141, sponsored by Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, uses the taskforce’s recommendations to have all state agencies use environmental justice principles when making any type of significant agency action. This is extremely problematic as environmental justice review will be triggered in permitting decisions to regulatory rulemaking as well as agencies engaged in public comment. The goal is to “meaningfully protect overburdened communities and vulnerable populations from, or support community response to, the impacts of environmental harm.”

The bill also creates the Environmental Justice Council and requires agencies to send annual reports to the council to ensure they are completing their obligations. There are no business representatives on the council. BIAW will be testifying as opposed to the bill in the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee at 8 a.m. on Jan. 20.

Please let the Legislature know you oppose it as well by completing this comment form.

For more information on the bill, you can find it here.