See this recording and supporting documents for CARB's AB 617 Consultation Group Meeting on February 26, 2020.
"The AB 617 Consultation Group includes individuals representing environmental justice organizations, air districts, industry, academia, public health organizations, and local government. Consultation Group meetings provide an opportunity to discuss of various aspects of Community Air Protection Program implementation. Consultation Group meetings complement additional outreach and consultation efforts through a variety of forums including public workshops, community meetings, and discussions with individual organizations and stakeholders."
"CARB establishes state air quality regulations which protect public health by addressing all major sources of smog-forming air pollution, and other forms of air pollution. As a result, cars today are 99 percent cleaner than in the 1970s, resulting in less air pollution overall, shorter hospital stays and fewer days missed from school and work due to respiratory and cardiopulmonary diseases.
California regulations, based on extensive research and sound science, have driven innovation, leading to significant technological developments such as the catalytic converter (which helped slash ozone by 60 percent), and the production of highly marketable low- and zero-emission cars and trucks, and cleaner fuels.
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Nunez) expanded CARB’s role to development and oversight of California’s main greenhouse gas reduction programs. These include cap-and-trade, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) programs. As a result of these efforts, the state is on track to roll back carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. With the passage of additional laws (such as SB 32 in 2014 and AB 398 in 2017), CARB is now mapping out how these programs and others can help California reach its next target: reducing greenhouse gas emissions an additional 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The ultimate goal for California is to reduce greenhouse gases 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050."
The school board is elected, so they are at least somewhat accountable to residents of Santa Ana (although the boundaries of SAUSD are not coterminous with the boundaries of the city of Santa Ana--need to look into how ballots are organized). School board meetings are televised and minutes are posted online, but only in English (45% of students are English language learners and far more than that do not speak English at home).
There are two resolutions posted on the district website stating that they do not assist immigration officials or allow them on SAUSD campuses.
The district emphasizes Family and Community Engagement as a practice, not a program. Part of this is the provision of Wellness Centers, which provide family events, classes on physical/mental health and academic support, and connections to other resources. There are also supposed to be FACE staff at every school, but many of the positions are empty. The website also has a resource newsletter, list of food resources, and a "resource support line" that seems to be available in both English and Spanish.
From the website:
Who is invited to engage with the Wellness Centers?
All families are invited to participate in the Wellness Centers. If you have a child in SAUSD, you are invited. And, if you do not have a child and are a community member, you are invited to participate, too! Remember, it takes a village.
This was representative of a general trend of making school facilities and resources available to all community members, not just students and families.
EDGI has created many projects that demonstrate tracking of environmental governance changes, specifically in environmental data infrastructure. It mainly deals with federal datasets and does not have much information on its website about engaging smaller communities.
Drawn from website,community engagement activities undertaken by ERF in Taiwan includes:
At Reservoir Planning Areas: ERF has organized the International Day of Action for Rivers events on March 14 for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. The events aim at drawing the society’s attention on reservoir issues through local concerts or speed-walking events.
At Solar Power Planning Areas: ERF has organized with local indigenous people the Tribe Land and Sunshine Workshop so that the local communities know more about solar energy and the practicing of indigenous peoples’ right of consultation and consent and the right of benefit sharing.
At So-to-Be-Eliminated Fishing Villages Whose Land is Acquired by the Tourism Industry and Hotels: ERF organizes courses on urban planning procedures and more.
Near Factories of the High Technology Industry: ERF organizes courses on communities’ right to know, health risk reports, and more.
The organization has also established the following:
Citizen Monitoring the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Environmental Rights Promotion Action Platform (Citizen Monitoring the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Platform): The Sixth Naphtha Cracker of Formosa Plastics is the largest petrochemical industrial park in central Taiwan, impacting the local environment and the health of residents greatly. Research has shown that the incidence of cancer is significantly higher in residents living near the petrochemical industrial park. Taixi Village of Changhua even has the name “cancer village”. The platform was co-established by civic organizations and local residents, aiming at urging the government to enhance its capability of environmental governance and conduct adequate environmental monitoring to realize the public’s right to know.
Legalization of Unregistered Factories on Agricultural Land: At present, there are over 134,500 unregistered factories on agricultural land in Taiwan, occupying an area of 13,859 hectares. ERF has been working with civic organizations since 2017, organizing legal policy lobbying, urging the government to amend laws and regulations, and publicizing data and information for better policy tracking and judgement.
Judicial Remedies for Transnational Corporation Pollution (Ocean Pollution of Formosa Ha-Tinh Steel Corporation): ERF organized a lawyer group to assist the 7,875 Vietnamese victims. We filed for a civil lawsuit for compensation against the shareholders and board of directors of Formosa Ha-Tinh Steel Corporation, hoping that transnational corporations bear responsibilities of pollution.