Planning department previews Environmental Justice Framework tied to general plan update

Planning Department staff presented an informational overview Oct. 7 of a proposed Environmental Justice (EJ) Framework that will inform updates to the city's general plan. The work is driven in part by state law (SB 1000), which asks jurisdictions to analyze disadvantaged communities and adopt policies to address disparities.

"We are defining environmental justice as the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and the elimination of environmental burdens to promote healthy communities where all San Franciscans can thrive," Lisa Chen of the department's Community Equity Division told the commission during the presentation.

Staff described a draft EJ Communities map that starts with CalEnviroScreen data and adds local datasets: a planning department/DPH air pollution exposure dataset, income data from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and Department of Public Health vulnerability indicators to better capture race and ethnicity and other local vulnerabilities. Staff said the darkest red areas on the map represent neighborhoods in the top 30% of environmental and health burdens and highlighted the southern and eastern parts of the city, plus neighborhoods such as Tenderloin, SoMa, Chinatown and Treasure Island.

The presentation previewed policy topics the framework will consider — pollution, food access, parks, housing, public services, climate resilience and equitable green jobs — and described community engagement plans including an EJ working group, youth engagement with SFUSD and SF State, focus groups and targeted outreach to communities shown on the draft map.

A public commenter, Francisco Acosta (Environmental Justice Advocacy), urged staff to move from generalities to more specific measurements of greenhouse-gas and methane emissions and to adopt "real-time" air-quality data for policy choices. Staff said work is still in an early phase and that the map and policies will be refined with public feedback and technical analysis.

Next steps: staff will refine the EJ Communities map with public input and return with proposed EJ policies and integration into the housing, transportation and safety elements of the general plan.

Attribution: Direct quotes and policy descriptions here are drawn from staff remarks recorded at the Oct. 7 Planning Commission meeting.