Title
REF220021 - COUNTY OF MONTEREY GENERAL PLAN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ELEMENT
Receive a presentation to consider options regarding the membership, organization and scope of the proposed Environmental Justice Community Advisory Committee (EJCAC) and provide direction to staff.
Project Location: Countywide
Proposed CEQA action: Find that the establishment of the EJCAC constitutes an early planning activity that is not a project under CEQA. Consideration of the Environmental Justice Element will be subject to a CEQA determination in the future.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Planning Commission:
a. Find that the establishment of the EJCAC constitutes an early planning activity that is not a project under CEQA;
b. Receive a presentation regarding options for the membership, organization and scope of the proposed Environmental Justice Community Advisory Committee; and
c. Provide direction to staff.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On March 29, 2023, the Planning Commission received a proposal for establishing an Environmental Justice Community Advisory Committee (EJCAC) to support the development of the new Environmental Justice Element for the unincorporated areas of Monterey County pursuant to state law (SB 1000). The proposal included a maximum of 20 participants to support manageability of the group while capturing a comprehensive cross-section of perspectives throughout the community, both geographically and distributed across populations. Therefore, an original list of 90 community-based organizations was narrowed to 20 groups, each with a connection to separate underserved groups within each identified disadvantaged community throughout the County.
During the March 29th meeting, the Planning Commission expressed concern that the process for inviting EJCAC members by limiting them to one appointed person from each of the 20 community-based organizations could potentially exclude individuals within in the community experiencing environmental jus...
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