Public Health & the Environment

Local land use and planning decisions have a significant and direct impact on public health. Current land use policy fails to recognize the considerable impact growth patterns have on public health. The Planning and Conservation League Foundation is on educating decision makers about this important linkage and working to reform our state’s policy to better account for the health and well being of California’s residents.

To promote local and statewide land use policies that distribute the benefits of land use decisions and protect human health and the environment, PCLF will:

• Provide training in how to use California laws to assess and prevent or mitigate the environmental and public health impacts
  
  
• Enhance the capacity of local groups in order to increase public participation in local land use decisions and local land use decision-making processes
  
  
• Support sustainability policies that explicitly take into account environmental and public health concerns
  
  
• Reform CEQA and other avenues, such as General Plans, to explicitly require public and environmental health and justice analyses and standards.
  
  
• Work with affected communities to oppose, enhance or modify projects that may have an adverse impact on their health