From CalEPA, May 3, 2022
“In 2012, Senate Bill 535 (De León, Chapter 830, Statutes of 2012) established initial requirements for minimum funding levels to ‘Disadvantaged Communities’ (DACs).
“After receiving public input at workshops and in written comments, in May 2022, CalEPA released its updated Designation of Disadvantaged Communities for the purpose of SB 535. In this designation, CalEPA formally designated four categories of geographic areas as disadvantaged:
- “Census tracts receiving the highest 25 percent of overall scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0.
- “Census tracts lacking overall scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0 due to data gaps, but receiving the highest 5 percent of CalEnviroScreen 4.0 cumulative pollution burden scores.
- “Census tracts identified in the 2017 DAC designation, regardless of their scores in CalEnviroScreen 4.0.
- “Lands under the control of federally recognized Tribes.
“The funds for the DACs come from California Climate Investments. These are proceeds of the State’s Cap-and-Trade Program in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and appropriated by the Legislature specifically targeted for investment in disadvantaged communities in California.
“The designation takes into account the latest and best available data and considers factors related to data unavailability. This designation will go into effect on July 1, 2022, at which point programs funded through California Climate Investments will use the designation in making funding decisions.”
Read the full announcement from CalEPA here. (~3 min.) The linked page also contains CalEPA’s current spatial data on California’s disadvantaged communities.