Transforming Air Quality Policy From Within? Environmental Justice and California’s Community Air Protection Policy

Keywords: environmental justice, the state, air quality, public policy
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

California boasts both the most stringent air pollution regulation and areas with the worst air quality in the country. Low-income people and people of color in both rural and urban areas throughout the state breathe hazardous air: a legacy of decades of racist land use, transportation, housing and industrial siting policies and practices. This provokes fierce conflicts between public agencies, industry, community organizations and residents over the strategies and the responsibilities for cleaning the air. Assembly Bill (AB 617), passed in 2017 was intended to develop community-based air quality monitoring and management strategies in these highly-polluted areas. Over the first three years of its implementation, tensions between environmental justice organizations and residents on the one hand and government agencies and industry on the other have reached a boiling point. This study draws on a three year (on-going) evaluation of AB 617 that examines how the voices of residents and community organizations representing these neighborhoods are positioned relative to the authorities of public agencies. It asks to what extent does AB 617 represent reform or transformation of air governance in California? It finds that while there are some important successes, including progress in democratizing air quality management and developing plans for impactful clean air actions, much of this potential is still to be realized and, with few exceptions, that the status quo of agency- driven processes remains the norm.