Over 100 local organizations submitted letters to the California Environmental Protection Agency this week, raising concerns over proposed updates to a map used to identify areas with disadvantaged communities.
CalEnviroScreen is a tool originally developed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, or OEHHA, to identify communities most impacted by pollution. Since its inception, the map has evolved as a tool used to identify what areas have the most need for programming and funding to help improve factors beyond the environment, including housing and transit.
The state EPA put out a “Draft CalEnviroScreen 5.0” earlier this year that includes updates to the previous map by accounting for additional health indicators like diabetes prevalence and exposure to small toxic air sites. The draft also modifies the map to reflect the most recent census tracts.
“Too many of our most vulnerable neighborhoods are still being left out, putting critical funding for housing, public health, and sustainability at risk.”
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Luries
But a coalition of Bay Area organizations, as well as San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, say the draft needs fixing.
“The CalEnviroScreen tool plays a critical role in identifying communities most impacted by pollution and directing resources to those who need them most,” Lurie said in a statement. “Too many of our most vulnerable neighborhoods are still being left out, putting critical funding for housing, public health, and sustainability at risk.”
More than 100 local groups wrote three separate letters to the state EPA, explaining how the Draft CalEnviroScreen 5.0 does not accurately reflect the level of need of certain communities.
The map categorizes each census tract based on rankings that evaluate indicators like drinking water contaminants and air quality. Tracts that receive the highest 25% of overall composite scores are designated as “Disadvantaged Communities,” or DACs.
Map accused of creating more inequality
In San Francisco, the coalitions argue that the Mission district, most of Chinatown, and South of Market areas should qualify as DACs, yet no census tracts in these neighborhoods meet the designation. Parts of the Tenderloin area are also left out.
“Unfortunately, the newly proposed Draft CES 5.0 worsens inequality and access to state resources for San Francisco’s communities of need,” one of the letters reads.
Other areas left out of the DAC designation that the letters bring up as communities of need include East Palo Alto, Marin City, the canal neighborhood of San Rafael, and parts of East and West Oakland. In Contra Costa County, the regions of Bay Point, Pacheco, and parts of Monument Corridor were also noted as potentially being inaccurately represented in the draft map.
OEHHA provided a 45-page report detailing how the draft map was formulated in coordination with eight different community-based organizations from different regions across the state.
The coalitions that wrote the letters are requesting that the state EPA delay the final approval of the CES 5.0 to allow for more public input and revision. Public comment in response to the draft closed Wednesday.
“We call upon the California Environmental Protection Agency and California of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to improve Draft CES 5.0 to reflect the extraordinary need of our communities across the Bay Area,” one of the letters reads.
