Avoiding Harms

Many communities across California encounter disproportionate climate risks, environmental and health hazards, and lower capacity to adapt to climate change. There is no one solution to resolve these historical and ongoing challenges. Instead, equity and environmental justice must be centered in every policy, program, and project, ensuring that climate solutions do not increase burdens for disadvantaged and low-income communities, particularly communities of color and California Native American Tribes.

Agencies administering California Climate Investments programs must consider and avoid potential substantial burdens or harms throughout program design and project selection. Program administrators and those that plan and implement projects are strongly encouraged to work with community members and community advocates to identify potential burdens or harms whenever possible. See the Funding Guidelines for more on requirements for avoiding harms for programs and projects.

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Program Design

  • Consider whether a given program has the potential to result in substantial economic, environmental, or public health burdens or harms (e.g., physical or economic displacement of low-income or disadvantaged community residents and businesses, increased exposure to toxics or other health risks) to priority populations, and design programs in such a way as to avoid those burdens or harms.

  • Engage with community members and community advocates to identify potential substantial burdens or harms, whenever feasible. For example:

    • Meaningfully engage with community-based organizations and members to understand and avoid worsening issues in that community.

    • Partner with community-based organizations and members, developers, and advocates to identify current and future areas of displacement, and metrics and measures to track and prevent displacement.

  • Design programs to avoid burdens and mitigate harms associated with projects. For example:

    • Require the use of zero-emission equipment for project-related construction, maintenance, and other activities.

    • Develop project requirements and/or measures to avoid or mitigate near-roadway exposures.

    • Establish thresholds that limit projects that may exacerbate burdens, such as projects that increase particulate matter in communities with a high particulate matter indicator score in CalEnviroScreen.

Project Selection

Avoid identified substantial burdens or harms to priority populations.

  • Consider using CARB’s co-benefit assessment methodologies to estimate a project’s benefits and assess potential substantial burdens or harms.

  • Consider requiring applicants whose proposed project includes planning on how the project will conduct community engagement to collect input to identify and take actions to avoid substantial burdens or harms to priority populations.

Learn more:

 
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Co-benefit Assessment Methodologies
Co-benefit Assessment Methodologies

California Air Resources Board

Methods for evaluating project co-benefits for projects, including jobs, air pollutant emissions, travel cost savings, vehicle miles traveled, energy and fuel cost savings, water savings, soil health and conservation, and heart and lung health.

Community Inclusion Guidance
Community Inclusion Guidance

California Air Resources Board

Example guidance from the Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP), where applicants must directly engage community residents, in all phases of the STEP proposal’s development and implementation to ensure projects provide direct, meaningful, and assured benefits to STEP Community residents. While quantity of outreach and engagement is important, STEP Applicants should also prioritize the quality of their outreach and engagement, including targeted outreach and engagement to hard-to-reach residents.

Displacement and Housing Guidance
Displacement and Housing Guidance

California Air Resources Board

Example guidance from Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP), where applicants are encouraged to consider how to identify and avoid substantial economic, environmental, and public health burdens in disadvantaged and low-income communities that may occur due to STEP-funded projects and that may lead to the physical or economic displacement of low-income households and small businesses.

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