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Santa Barbara County adopts Environmental Justice Element after months of public debate
Summary
The Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a new Environmental Justice Element for the county general plan on March 10, 2026, adding policies, objectives and a 100-action implementation matrix and directing staff to coordinate implementation and refine community engagement measures.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on March 10 to adopt a new Environmental Justice (EJ) Element for the county's comprehensive plan, after months of outreach, planning commission review and public testimony.
The element identifies eight environmental justice communities in unincorporated areas, sets three overarching goals and nine policies and includes 39 objectives and roughly 100 actions intended to reduce pollution exposure, improve access to healthy foods and public facilities, expand crisis response, and promote civic engagement in the communities most affected by environmental burdens. "These communities deserve focused attention and concrete actions," Planning project manager Zoe Carlson told the board during the hearing.
Why it matters: SB 1000 requires jurisdictions with identified EJ communities to include goals and targeted actions in their general plans. County staff said the new element aligns county departments with statewide goals, lays out a short-, medium- and long-term implementation timeline and creates an appendix with program-level assignments to county departments and partners. The board adopted staff edits made after planning commission recommendations, including a clarified implementation matrix, the addition of trails and green-space language and narrower boundaries for two rural census-designated communities requested by supervisors.
What the board did: Supervisors voted to adopt the element as revised, find it exempt from CEQA, and direct planning and the county executive's office to continue quarterly interdepartmental EJ working-group meetings. The board also asked staff to return with options for an ongoing, resourced community engagement or oversight structure (community-led, county-supported, or hybrid) and possible funding sources such as equity-initiative dollars or philanthropic support.
Voices at the meeting: Community groups, unions and environmental justice advocates urged stronger monitoring, binding commitments and more in-person outreach. Several residents and advocacy organizations requested an EJ oversight committee that includes affected residents. Planning staff and the equity advisory group described an extensive outreach program and said the implementation matrix reflects both existing programs and new actions to be phased in over time.
What comes next: Planning will work with departments to implement actions in the matrix, and staff will return with a formal proposal for a stakeholder engagement structure and recommended funding. The board asked for reports on implementation through the county's climate initiative reporting and agreed the implementation schedules can be adjusted to reflect board priorities.
Provenance: The EJ draft plan and hearing record are anchored to the public presentation and discussion beginning with the Planning and Development Department presentation (topic introduction identified in the transcript at SEG 4330) and concluding with the board's adoption and roll-call (SEG 7070–SEG 7110).
