SB 1282 Summary

• Requires state agencies to adopt and implement environmental justice policies ensuring fair treatment of all people regardless of race, color, ethnicity, religion, income, or education level in environmental decisions and program implementation.

• Establishes an environmental justice advisory council within the Department of Environmental Quality with 15 members including representatives from grassroots organizations, environmental groups, civil rights organizations, public health, businesses, government, and labor; council meets quarterly and ends July 1, 2028.

• Creates a multiagency environmental justice task force led by the directors of environmental quality and health services to develop action plans addressing disproportionate environmental health risks in selected communities based on petitions filed by community members.

• Authorizes the task force to identify affected communities, meet with residents, develop implementation plans addressing environmental burdens, monitor progress, and make recommendations to state agencies and local governments to reduce environmental health disparities.

• Designates this legislation as the "Environmental Justice Act" and expresses legislative findings that minority and low-income communities bear disproportionate health risks from pollution and waste facilities due largely to past governmental decisions.