SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board today announced the appointment of seven new members to its Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (EJAC). The committee is comprised of representatives from California communities most heavily impacted by air pollution, including those communities with minority or low-income populations.

The newly-appointed representatives include:

• Connie Cho, Communities for a Better Environment
• Dillon Delvo, Little Manila Rising
• Dr. Catherine Garoupa, Central Valley Air Quality Coalition
• Thomas Helme, Valley Improvement Projects
• Neena Mohan, California Environmental Justice Alliance
• Sharifa Taylor, Communities for a Better Environment
• Paulina Torres, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment

“I look forward to the productive engagement of the new and former members of the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee in the Scoping Plan process,” said Hector De La Torre, Assembly-appointed Boardmember for Environmental Justice. “They will bring important perspectives and recommendations to the development of California’s statewide plan to fight climate change with actions that equitably address the greenhouse gas emissions impacts on low-income urban and rural communities.”

The EJAC was created under Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to help advise the board in developing the Climate Change Scoping Plan and on pertinent issues related to AB 32. CARB convened the first EJAC in 2007. It was integral to the development of the first scoping plan of 2008 and the updates of 2013 and 2017.

“CARB is excited to reconvene the EJAC and begin work on the 2022 Scoping Plan to help address air pollution in those communities with the greatest exposure and health risk. Returning committee members played an important role in helping select the new members and, with the addition of these new representatives, we have a diverse group with a deep commitment to environmental justice issues and principles,” said Chanell Fletcher, CARB’s Director of Environmental Justice.

New EJAC members will join the four returning members to begin work on the 2022 Scoping Plan update. Returning members include: Martha Dina Argüello of Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles; Kevin Hamilton of Central California Asthma Collaborative; Luis Olmedo of Comité Civico del Valle, and Mayor Rey León of LEAP Institute.

New members were selected from a total of 68 applicants submitted earlier this year. A panel of representatives from CalEPA, CARB and current EJAC members proposed the nominees for the board’s approval. The EJAC will operate under a new approach that works to actively build relationships and trust community expertise; advance community driven solutions; and partner and cooperatively create solutions with the EJAC and residents in the most impacted communities to create a more just and sustainable future.

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