Water policy: environmental justice: disadvantaged and tribal communities.

Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. Existing law requires the regional boards to prescribe requirements as to the nature of any proposed discharge, existing discharge, or material change in an existing discharge, except discharges into a community sewer system, with relation to the conditions existing in the disposal area or receiving waters upon, or into which, the discharge is made or proposed. Existing law also authorizes the state board or a regional board to waive these requirements as to a specific discharge or type of discharge if the state board or a regional board determines, after any necessary state board or regional board meeting, that the waiver is consistent with any applicable state or regional water quality control plan and is in the public interest. This bill would, among other things, specify that the state board and each regional board need to begin outreach to identify issues of environmental justice as early as possible in planning, policy, and permitting processes. The bill would require the state board and each regional board to engage in equitable, culturally relevant community outreach to promote meaningful civic engagement from potentially impacted communities of proposed discharges of waste that may have disproportionate impacts on water quality in disadvantaged communities or tribal communities and ensure that outreach and engagement shall continue throughout the waste discharge planning, policy, and permitting processes. The bill would require the state board and each regional board, contingent upon an appropriation, to hire environmental justice and tribal community coordinator positions for specified purposes. The bill would require the state board, contingent upon a specific appropriation, to establish a community capacity-building stipend program to promote meaningful civic engagement by disadvantaged communities and tribal communities in the state board and regional board decisionmaking processes, among other activities. The bill would require the state board and each regional board to make a finding, as specified, on potential environmental justice, tribal impact, and racial equity considerations when adopting water quality control plans or state policies for water quality control, and when issuing or reissuing waste discharge requirements or waivers of waste discharge requirements. The bill would also set forth related findings and declarations.