March 18, 2003
TO: Interested Persons
SUBJECT: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Fair treatment of all people is an overarching value
guiding how the Department of Pesticide Regulation does
business. To ensure that we institutionalize environmental
justice into our daily operation, we have prepared a
draft Environmental
Justice Implementation Plan. You may also call [916]
445-4300 and request a copy be mailed or faxed to you).
In preparing this plan, we closely followed the successful
approach taken by the Air Resources Board.
We are initiating the process of seeking public input
on the plan. At the next Pest Management Advisory Committee
meeting, we will solicit comments from the Committee.
We will bring our draft plan, which is posted on our
Web site, to the California Environmental Protection
Agency's Environmental Justice Advisory Committee. After
the comment period and necessary revisions, we will
hold dialogue sessions with community groups and interested
parties.
To effect this schedule, we would appreciate receiving
your comments by June 1, 2003. You may send your comments
electronically to <ejustice@cdpr.ca.gov>,
or mail them to EJ Implementation Plan, Department of
Pesticide Regulation, P.O. Box 4015, Sacramento, California
95812-4015.
We have also set up an electronic mailing list to provide
automatic updates on our policy. If you want to sign
up, go to our Web site, click on the "Join
E-Lists" button, and follow the instructions
for the "Environmental Justice" list.
We appreciate your consideration and understanding
of the short time frame for this initial review. We
look forward to working with you throughout this process.
Our hope is that the thoughts and suggestions we receive
will lead to an implementation plan that meets our environmental
justice goals.
Sincerely,
Paul Helliker
Director
(916) 445-4000
