Environmental Briefs: LA County Board Prioritizes Environmental Justice and Climate Health

Hahn and Solis Aim to Support Small Businesses as County Phases Out Single-Use Plastics

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors April 5, approved a motion by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis that will provide assistance to small businesses for the implementation of the single-use plastic ordinance in the County’s unincorporated areas. The ordinance will require that all disposable food service ware like containers, cups, dishes, and utensils provided with ready-to-eat food or food trays be either compostable or recyclable.

The assistance motion directs County offices and agencies to provide small businesses with education and outreach in multiple languages, information about suppliers of compliant food ware items, and to study the feasibility of providing financial support to small businesses during their transition. It aims to help put small businesses toward compliance once the Single-Use Plastics Ordinance goes into full effect in May of 2023.

The single-use plastic ordinance is a consequential step in the fight against environmental degradation. Plastics make up a significant amount of the 30 million pounds of waste generated in LA County, and, when broken down, can enter human food systems. Preventing plastic pollution will require collaboration across the public and private sectors, an effort that this motion facilitates.

Hahn and Solis Establish Environmental Justice and Climate Health as Board Priorities

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, April 6, voted unanimously to establish environmental justice and climate health as official board priorities for the County of Los Angeles. They also voted to create an Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health within the Department of Public Health.

The move is part of Supervisor Hahn’s effort to change LA County’s approach to environmental justice and health hazards from a reactive one to a proactive one.

With today’s action, the Board will rename and revise the current board directed priority of “Environmental Health Monitoring and Oversight” to “Environmental Justice and Climate Health.” The Board also directed the Department of Public Health to report back in 120 days with a plan to create an Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health, a plan to consult with local environmental organizations, a comprehensive set of policy areas that could be pursued to reduce public health disparities in communities overburdened by pollution exposure and poor air quality, and identification of data that could be used to better understand environmental conditions.