Environmental Justice

  1. Home
  2. Environment & Public Health
  3. Environmental Justice

Every Californian should have the opportunity to live in a community that is healthy and safe. This is especially true for low-income communities and communities of color, who suffer disproportionate exposure to pollution and the resulting health impacts. In February 2018, the Bureau of Environmental Justice was established, and in April 2021, Attorney General Bonta announced the expansion of the Bureau. The Bureau is comprised of attorneys who are solely focused on fighting environmental injustices throughout the state of California and uplifting the voices of frontline communities who are all too often under-resourced and overburdened. Many of these communities are referred to as “disadvantaged communities” under state law.

The Bureau of Environmental Justice

The Bureau’s mission is to protect people and communities that endure a disproportionate share of environmental pollution and public health hazards.


Under state law: “[e]nvironmental justice” means the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Attorney General Bonta believes in the importance of dedicating attorneys and resources to fighting environmental injustices. A first-of-its-kind bureau in a state attorney general’s office, the Bureau works to:

  • Ensure compliance with state and federal environmental laws in all communities;
  • Investigate and bring enforcement actions that hold polluters accountable for illegal contamination of air and water in communities already overburdened with pollution;
  • Take actions to eliminate or reduce disproportionate exposures to lead and other toxins;
  • Protect the unique rights of Native American communities; and
  • Challenge the federal government’s actions that inadequately protect public health and illegally roll back environmental protections for all Californians.

Contacting the Bureau

If you have information to share regarding environmental justice issues in your community, please reach out to ej@doj.ca.gov.

Environmental Justice Matters

The Bureau enforces the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), among other laws.

CEQA is a state law requiring government agencies in California to consider potentially significant environmental impacts when reviewing and permitting new projects, including impacts on communities already burdened with pollution. The Attorney General is particularly focused on ensuring that land use planning and permitting decisions consider and address any additional burdens on disadvantaged communities from proposed projects.

NEPA is a federal law that, like CEQA, requires federal agencies to comprehensively evaluate the impacts of their actions on federal land or that receive federal funding or permits on the environment and public health.

The Attorney General has filed and resolved several investigations and lawsuits to enforce CEQA and NEPA protections in disadvantaged communities, for example:

Other examples of the Bureau’s work can be seen on the Attorney General’s CEQA website, which links all comment letters submitted on behalf of the Attorney General.

Finally, through its review of hundreds of warehouse projects across the state, the Bureau has collected best practices and mitigation measures to assist local governments in complying with CEQA and to promote environmentally-just warehouse development in California. This information is in the guidance called 2022 Warehouse Projects: Best Practices and Mitigation Measures to Comply with CEQA.

Senate Bill (SB) 1000 requires every California city and county that contains a disadvantaged community to address environmental justice in their general plan. This includes identifying policies to reduce the unique or compounded health risks in disadvantaged communities, prioritizing programs that address the needs of these communities, and promoting community engagement in decision-making processes.

More information on SB 1000, including guidance for complying with SB 1000, sample environmental justice policies, SB 1000 tools and resources, and comment letters can be found at https://oag.ca.gov/environment/sb1000.

Attorney General Bonta is committed to ensuring tenants and homeowners are protected from illegal water shutoffs. The Bureau has issued legal alerts reminding water providers that they are prohibited from shutting off water service unless a customer’s bill is at least 60 days past due and the provider has given sufficient notice. In addition, the Bureau has taken enforcement actions against providers that have violated the Water Shutoff Protection Act. For more information, please see:

The Bureau has been involved in several matters to enforce Assembly Bill (AB) 52, 2015 legislation that amended the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to establish a government-to-government tribal consultation process that affirms the right of tribes to participate in CEQA processes, requires lead agencies to analyze tribal cultural resources separately from archaeological and historical resources in the CEQA process, and requires lead agencies to mitigate significant impacts to those resources. Examples of our work include:

Attorney General Bonta has repeatedly pushed the federal government to protect disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations when regulations and policies have been insufficient. These actions have included guidance documents, comment letters, and litigation:

The Attorney General is also committed to supporting and defending federal laws that protect public health and safety, including: