Santa Barbara County Adopts Road Map to Environmental Justice

Not all communities in Santa Barbara County can breathe easily. Some face environmental burdens, such as pollution, pesticide exposure, and overcrowded housing conditions — defined as a glaring lack of “environmental justice.”  

On Tuesday, however, at the County Board of Supervisors meeting, the voices of nine United Domestic Workers who came out to share their environmental concerns were not heard. The item about the county’s state-mandated Environmental Justice Element (EJE) was pushed back several hours, forcing the group to go back to work before they were able to speak. 

It was illustrative of the main concerns held by community members about the element, an addition to the county’s General Plan to guide future decision making. 

The EJE is meant to address environmental hazards in the county’s “Environmental Justice Communities”: identified as Isla Vista, Casmalia, Cuyama, New Cuyama, Ventucopa, Sisquoc, and Los Alamos.

Community members already feel that their voices are not heard when it comes to decisions made about their neighborhoods, regional advocates said, asking that the element be revised after incorporating more public input and strengthening policy language. 

“We remind the county that to fully encompass a just environment, you must open your eyes and ears and listen to how marginalized communities have and continue to suffer,” said Sandra Plascencia-Rodriguez, the climate justice organizer for the local UDW chapter. 

“My heart aches a little bit about the agenda change and that people who came weren’t able to participate,” said Supervisor Joan Hartmann. “I do think that although they’re asking for more outreach, the time has come where we really need to adopt this element.”

“There’s been a lot of effort invested in this by our departments and the community,” Hartmann said. “And we’re not going to go back and open things up, but the real key is how we implement going forward.”

The county’s Planning Commission tweaked the document, clarifying the intent of the EJE is not to impose new regulations on land owners or businesses but to identify and address unique community needs around issues such as pollution, air quality, and food access. Some proposed ideas include planting more trees, opening up new public facilities — such as climate resiliency hubs — providing air purifiers to households, and cleaning up hazardous or polluted sites. The proposals range from ongoing efforts — there is much the county is already doing to address environmental burdens and greenhouse gases, supervisors noted — to short- and long-term solutions. 

It wasn’t a simple vote. Garey, a small town about 10 miles southeast of Santa Maria, was originally qualified as an EJ community but was removed due to updated information on its median income (it is too high to be considered a disadvantaged community). Nearby Sisquoc’s designation was reduced to only include residential areas, rather than zoned agricultural lands, after public comment from a representative of the Grower-Shipper Association. Public trails were also added. With these changes, the board voted unanimously to approve and adopt the EJE. 

“We need to spend time with the environmental justice groups on implementation,” said Supervisor Laura Capps, suggesting that they could carve out funds to ensure that hard-to-reach populations are engaged. “And that’s where I want to focus now.”