March 10: Speak Up for Environmental Justice in Santa Barbara County

Urge County Supervisors to protect vulnerable communities and strengthen the draft Environmental Justice Element.

Join us on Tuesday, March 10 to urge Santa Barbara County Supervisors to consider resident feedback and fully address all environmental challenges facing the communities most affected.

Low-income communities and communities of color often bear the brunt of the climate crisis, facing more severe environmental hazards with fewer resources. Santa Barbara County is required by state law to adopt an Environmental Justice (EJ) Element that addresses environmental inequities. The EJ Element must set clear objectives to reduce pollution, improve air quality, provide safe homes, expand public facilities, and prioritize programs that meet the specific needs of the communities most affected.

The Planning Commission recommended adopting the draft EJ Element last November, but the draft has not yet incorporated feedback from the communities it is meant to serve. Without residents’ input, the plan risks falling short of state guidelines and failing to address the full range of environmental burdens. This is why we need your voice. By sharing your perspective, you can help ensure the EJ Element is strong, enforceable, and responsive to the people it is meant to protect.

Call to Action
Attend the Board of Supervisors Meeting
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 9 a.m.

Attend In Person

Join us on Tuesday, March 10, as we urge the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to modify its EJ Element to address all the environmental burdens our communities face. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. and breaks at noon — The draft EJ Element will be the fourth item on the agenda. It is expected to be heard after the break. To ensure you don't miss it, monitor the meeting online and head to the hearing room when they begin discussing agenda item #4. The session will take place at the Betteravia Government Center (511 East Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria, CA) in Board Hearing Room 511.  

Attend the meeting and provide public comment to help strengthen the EJ Element and protect vulnerable communities from intensifying climate risks. Meeting information is posted here. Public comments are typically limited to three minutes, but for well-attended meetings, may be further limited to one or two minutes. 

Can’t Make It In Person? Provide Public Comment

Via Email: Email the Board of Supervisors (sbcob@countyofsb.org) with a written comment or video-recorded message by Monday, March 9, at 5:00 p.m. asking that they conduct additional community engagement to incorporate resident feedback and make the EJ Element as robust as possible.

Over Zoom: If you can’t attend in person, participate in the meeting virtually to provide public comment or listen in. You can register here or access the Zoom link in the March 10 meeting agenda packet, which you can download here.

Talking Points

Share your appreciation and why this matters to you:

• Show your appreciation to county staff and elected officials for considering community feedback in the draft EJ Element and working with residents to address all environmental burdens facing vulnerable communities.

• Share in your own words why environmental justice matters to you and how pollution has affected your community.

Urge the Santa Barbara County Supervisors to:

• Strengthen the draft Environmental Justice Element with enforceable policies that reduce pollution and protect vulnerable communities. Listening to residents and addressing all environmental burdens is essential to safeguard health, equity, and community well-being.

Emphasize that:

• Low-income communities and communities of color often bear the brunt of the climate crisis. Strengthening the EJ Element helps protect them from environmental and health risks.

• All environmental burdens must be addressed, ensuring the EJ Element tackles every source of pollution and hazard affecting residents’ daily lives.

• Community engagement must be expanded, incorporating feedback from residents of more vulnerable communities the Element is designed to benefit.

• Policies must be enforceable and trackable, so they produce real reductions in environmental burdens rather rather than letting conditions remain the same.

• The County must be held accountable, guaranteeing that environmental justice communities receive the protections and resources they are entitled to, with measurable progress monitored over time.

Sign-On Letter and Recommendations

Our partner, the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), prepared a comment letter, and CEC has already signed on in support. Along with the letter, EDC will provide specific language recommendations to strengthen key objectives and implementation actions in the EJ Element. You can read EDC’s Action Alert here.