Cal/EPA Strategic Vision July 2000

Bridging to the 21st Century

• Cal/EPA Authority
• A Strategic Process

California’s current approach to environmental protection has evolved over the past half-century. Programs and organizations were created at different times and for different reasons—generally to address a specific environmental pollution issue or because of federal government mandates. Since federal and state statutes were enacted specific to a single medium (water, air, solid waste) or pollution category (toxic substances, pesticides), state environmental programs have been organized likewise. However, pollution occurs without respect to jurisdictional or organizational boundaries.  The medium-specific organizational structure of environmental protection in California presents a significant challenge to program managers who must ensure that a strategy that solves a problem in one medium does not create a problem in another. It is necessary therefore to create cross-media strategies for addressing environmental problems. 

California has one of the most successful "command and control" environmental protection systems in the world.1 It has served the State well. Progress toward protecting public health and the environment has been dramatic since the passage of the first environmental laws over thirty years ago. Fair, firm, and consistent enforcement of our environmental laws is still, and will continue to be, a cornerstone of environmental protection.

However, California, indeed the nation, is engaged in a new era of environmental protection. The traditional "command and control" approaches of the past have reached a point of diminishing returns. In spite of the positive trends, illustrated on these pages, there remains significant and difficult work to achieve further progress toward greater public safety and environmental protection.

Moreover, there are complex environmental problems to be addressed. Global warming, ozone depletion, loss of habitat, extinction of plant and animal species, and urban sprawl are new and even greater challenges than the air and water pollution of the past that could largely be addressed with engineering solutions. The stakes are getting higher as California’s population continues to grow at a rapid pace.

1Within the context of environmental protection, the term "command and control" is used to describe regulating pollution at the point of discharge by setting limits on how much pollution will be tolerated. Hence we "command" a maximum acceptable limit and "control" pollution at the point of discharge.

Consider the following:

• California’s current population of 34.6 million is expected to increase by 70%, to 58.8 million, by 2040. 2
• Eighty-five percent of the energy used in California is generated from petroleum products, a major source of emissions that contribute to global warming. 3
• Vehicle miles traveled will almost double by 2020. 4
• California lists 47 species of animals and 129 species of plants on the State Endangered Species List. Another 20 animals and 30 plants are listed as threatened.5
• Since 1986 over 500 chemicals in use in California have been determined to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.6
• The gasoline additive MTBE has been detected in 62 drinking water sources. Several communities have lost their source water as a result of MTBE contamination. 7
• Approximately 600,000 California children have asthma. 8

These facts are but a sample of the environmental indicators that confirm Secretary Hickox’s acknowledgment that "Protecting human health and the environment is a job that is never done." It is clear there is much to be done to address these and other environmental challenges. It is also clear that new strategies must be devised to augment the traditional "command and control" regulatory programs that have been effective in the past. New strategies must balance the stringent demands of society, the environment, and the economy.

2 State of California, Department of Finance, County Population Projections with Race/Ethnic Detail,2000
3 California Energy Commission, California Energy Facts, August 1998
4 California Department of Transportation, Transportation System Information Program, California Motor Vehicle Stock, Travel and Fuel
Forecast, November 1997
5 State of California, Department of Fish and Game, Internet Posting, April 2000
6 State of California, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Chemicals Known to the State to Cause Cancer or Reproductive Toxicity, Internet Posting, March 10, 2000
7 California Department of Health Services, Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Database, 2000
8 American Lung Association of California, Chronic Respiratory Disease Rates, 1997

Cal/EPA Authority

California has a long and successful tradition of leadership in environmental programs. Frequently, it has led the nation in developing innovative approaches to address environmental problems, and its efforts have been rewarded by significant and measurable results.

The Legislature’s adoption of the Governor’s Reorganization Plan of 1991, creating the cabinet level California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), reconfirmed California’s commitment to protection of the environment. With this commitment came the expectation that the new Agency would lead and coordinate the State’s environmental programs to new and better environmental results.

The unique organizational structure of California’s environmental programs make the six boards, departments and office of Cal/EPA separate programs, largely independent of the Secretary of Cal/EPA. The Secretary does not direct policies and decisions of the boards, departments and office on a day-to-day basis. As an officer of the Governor’s cabinet with statutory responsibility to coordinate and supervise the overall performance of the units in the Agency, the Secretary provides the vision and leadership that focuses the efforts of the boards, departments and office of Cal/EPA on the goals of the Administration.

Days Over State and Federal 1-Hour Ozone Standards, 1980 - 1998 (Lower graph shows federal standards, upper graph shows more protective state standards)

Graphics go here.....

1998 California Water Quality

Water Body Type	Total Size2	Size/Extent of Waters Assessed	Percent of Waters Assessed2 (by size)	Number of Waters Assessed4	Water Quality Conditions1 Percent Size of all Waters Assessed
					Good	Threatened and/or Suspected Impacts3	Impaired
RIVERS AND STREAMS	211,513 Miles	15,795	7.5%	783	25.7 %	58.2%	16.0%
LAKES AND RESERVOIRS	1,672,684 Acres	739,143	44.2%	303	29.1 %	53.7%	17.2%
WETLANDS	149,518 Acres	67,104	44.9%	85	22.3 %	77.7%	0.0%
GROUND WATER	82,011 Sq. Mi.	63,801	77.8%	352	61.4 %	35.9%	2.4%
ESTUARIES	104,186 Acres	78,929	75.8%	54	8.7 %	78.8%	12.5%
SALINE LAKES	436,242 Acres	432,908	99.2%	11	0.0 %	100.0%	0.0%
TIDAL WETLANDS	126,294 Acres	71,104	56.3%	8	0.0 %	99.7%	0.3%
BAYS AND HARBORS	515,286 Acres	484,984	94.1%	45	29.8 %	64.7%	5.5%
COASTAL SHORELINE	1,609 Miles	914	56.8%	114	87.1 %	6.7%	6.2%
OCEAN	317,496 Acres	317,496	-	25	99.1 %	0.9%	0.0%

1 Based on the SWRCB’s 1998 Waterbody System database.
2 Sizes are for those waters inventoried and do not necessarily account for all waters.
3 Under Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act, some of these waters have been listed as impaired.
4 Large water bodies such as rivers, groundwaters, ocean, and coastal shoreline may have several reaches or sub-basins which are counted as separate waters.

A Strategic Process

This Strategic Vision is one of a series of interrelated documents that describe California’s current priorities, future directions and ongoing efforts to measure our progress into the next century. Each is part of the complete picture of where the Agency is headed in integrating high environmental quality, public health and economic vitality in the pursuit of a sustainable State. A brief summary of the purpose of each document follows.

Strategic Vision: The overarching goals of Cal/EPA, which will be incorporated into the Strategic Plans of the boards, departments and office of the Agency.

Strategic Plans: Each of the boards, departments and office of Cal/EPA will prepare a Strategic Plan that expresses the entity’s purpose, mission, goals and milestones that provide the basis for achieving the Cal/EPA Strategic Vision. Their scope is long term, without a specific end point. The departmental Strategic Plans will also express the strategies to be emphasized to advance these goals.

Departmental Work Plans: Each board, department, and office of the Agency will prepare internal work plans to guide day-to-day operations in a prioritized fashion based on available resources. The work plans are developed annually and provide the basis upon which annual budget requests are made to Cal/EPA.

Departmental Budgets: The annual departmental budget planning process will integrate the goals, strategies, milestones and indicators developed through the Strategic Planning process. This integration will be continued and enhanced in subsequent budget planning cycles.

Annual Report: This document provides the public with an assessment of the programmatic progress, as well as any strategy alterations, made in the preceding year. In the future, as more environmental indicators are developed and put to greater use, this annual report will provide a more quantified picture of how the Agency is progressing in achieving goals.

State of the Environment Report: This report, published by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, provides an assessment of the current quality of the environment and the historic progress made by residents, regulated community, state and local government and the Agency in improving the environment and quality of life in California. It is intended for the general public and relies heavily on the use of environmental indicators, demographic data, growth, energy, land use and transportation facts and trends to report the state-of-the-State’s environment.

Environmental Indicators Report: This report provides the data sources and analyses needed to determine the public and ecological health of California. Cal/EPA will embark on a mission to develop and maintain environmental indicators over the next year. The report will be available for use by managers, the regulated community, scientists, stakeholders, and the public.

Agency-wide Synthesis: This is a virtual document, created on the Internet to link the board, department and office Strategic Plans with the Cal/EPA Strategic Vision. Combined, the documents represent the strategic agenda for Cal/EPA and its boards, departments and office into the future. When fully developed, there will also be linkages with other state, local and federal agencies. Figure 1 below illustrates how the Cal/EPA Strategic Vision and the Strategic Plans of the boards, departments, office (BDOs) and Agency will provide an annual cycle of planning, resource allocation, action, evaluation, and adjustment.

Figure 1—Planning and Decisions Process

As California enters the 21st Century, it is crucial that our approach to environmental protection leverage all that we know about science, ecology, economics and development. Cal/EPA’s new approach to protection is not simple or isolated. Development and application of the science necessary to protect California and Californians for the next hundred years will require a level of cooperation and coordination unparalleled in our history. This document is the first step in that direction.

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