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Last night, the California Legislature passed SB 158 to create structural changes at the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June “Placeholder Budget” Requires Deeper Investments in Low-Income, Communities of Color Sacramento, CA — On June 14th, the California State Legislature narrowly passed a placeholder budget before the June 15 budget deadline with substantially different allocations than those proposed in Governor Newsom’s May Revision. Negotiations on the June budget are anticipated to continue into July. This week, the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) continues to urge lawmakers to pass an equitable 2021–2022 Budget through a letter to the Governor and Senate and Assembly Leadership. In the letter, CEJA requested that State leaders incorporate key environmental justice priorities into the final budget. In response to the passing of a June placeholder budget, CEJA Policy Manager Raquel Mason issued the following statement: As California residents brace for yet another year of severe drought and record-setting wildfires, CEJA calls upon Governor Newsom and the Legislature to eliminate funding for costly and dangerous false solutions that derail our state’s efforts for a just recovery; and, instead, invest deeply in programs that strengthen community well-being and address environmental and climate-related crises. With a record budget surplus, now is the time to prioritize life-sustaining programs and infrastructure such as community resilience centers, and make

Oil and gas safety buffer zones and community resilience investments lead the 2021 EJ agenda  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Contact: Isa Flores-Jones | isa@caleja.org Sacramento, California  | April 20, 2021 – On Tuesday, the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) Action announced its priority bills for the 2021 Legislative session. As the state enters the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CEJA Action is prioritizing a health and safety buffer zone between homes and to neighborhood oil drilling in California with SB 467 (Wiener and Limon), and critical investments in clean energy infrastructure with AB 1087 (Chiu).  CEJA Action is adopting supporting positions on SB 222 and 223 (Dodd),to ensure access to clean and affordable drinking water to low-income Californians; SB 342 (González), to add two environmental justice board members to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD); and AB 339 (Lee), to ensure that all local agency meetings are accessible to frontline residents. Read more about our priority bills here at ceja-action.org.  “California cannot claim to be a climate leader while it continues the dangerous practice of oil drilling next to where people live, work, learn, and play,” said Martha Dina Arguello, Executive Director with Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles