City Council to Vote on Clean Up Green Up Work Plan!

The Clean Up Green Up pilot policy is about to take a final step Wednesday, June 19th.

Now that the Clean Up Green policy is part of the City budget, the full City Council is scheduled for a final vote on the Clean Up Green Work Plan and a companion measure to allow the city to receive $100,000 from the Liberty Hill Foundation to match city funding.

While we are confident that there is strong support across all Council Districts for the Clean Up Green Up pilot policy, we aren’t taking anything for granted.  All Council offices need to hear from our allies in support of the Clean Up Green Up policy before the June 19^th hearing and see a Coalition presence in Council chambers.

Hearing time: 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 19th, Council Chamber, Room 340, City Hall, 201 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Please help us maintain momentum.  A favorable Council vote will direct the Planning Department to get going on a work plan to create cleaner greener communities in three L.A. toxic hotspot neighborhoods—Boyle Heights, Wilmington and Pacoima.

Urge Council to Initiate the Clean Up Green Up Work Plan!

TAKE ACTION:

1. Email City Council members, urging them to VOTE IN FAVOR of the Clean Up Green Up Work Plan and Trust Fund.  There’s a sample letter and email addresses here—please be sure to refer to Council File #11-0112  and 11-0112-S1 in your communications.   The mailing address for all Councilmembers: 200 N. Spring St., LA, CA 90012.
2. Attend the Council hearing on the Clean Up Green Up Work Plan.  The hearing starts at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 19th, Council Chambers, Room 340, City Hall, 201 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
3. Spread the word!  Please post this alert on your website and social media.

 For more information go to:
http://www.CleanUpGreenUpLA.org
 or call 310-846-7562

Clean Up Green Up in the News!

Boyle Heights resident Leonardo Vilchis, of Union de Vecinos, says the next mayor can have a lot of influence on toxic pollution in his neighborhood. – Molly Peterson / KPCC

KPCC’s environmental reporter Molly Peterson recently interviewed Leonardo Vilchis of Union De Vecinos, one of the the organizations leading the Clean Up Green Up effort.

He hopes that L.A.’s new mayor will make environmental health a priority. “The new mayor could immediately put this stuff in the budget and start addressing these issues and then negotiate with the council,” he says. “And if you have this kind of leadership, things will move faster, and the community will hopefully start feeling the impacts of these kind of changes in policy.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

What is Clean Up Green Up?

                              

Clean Up Green Up is a public health and economic development pilot proposal to make LA communities healthier by establishing Green Zones in Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington. Clean Up Green Up aims to prevent and reduce pollution in order to protect the health of residents there, especially the ones most sensitive to pollution—children, the elderly, the chronically ill. Clean Up Green Up is healthy for local businesses, too. The proposed policy creates an ombudsman office to connect businesses with city, state and federal resources—business planning support, low interest loans—as well as help them comply with existing regulations and streamline city permitting processes (saving time and hassles). JOIN US and check out our FAQ for more info.

Victory for Clean Up Green Up!

Key City Council Committee Unanimously Approves Clean Up Green Up Work Plan!
It was unanimous on Tuesday, April 16^th, when the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee approved the Clean Up Green Up work plan and set the stage for it to move off to full City Council.

More than 75 residents and allies were present when the PLUM Committee endorsed the Clean Up Green Up policy for Boyle Heights, Wilmington and Pacoima.  The action by the PLUM Committee serves as a strong recommendation to the full Council to launch Clean Up Green Up. This innovative pilot approach to the problem of some neighborhoods’ overexposure to local pollution uses traditional planning and land use tools along with economic incentives to revitalize the three overburdened Los Angeles communities. READ MORE

Check Out Our New Community Stories

The Clean Up Green Up concept emerged from communities suffering from the effects of too many pollution sources too close to places where families live, work and play. The leaders you’ll meet here from three different Los Angeles communities came to understand the potential links between family health problems and concentrations of local pollution. They decided to take steps to improve their local environments. Take a look at their stories in Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington.

Read Outgoing Administrator Lisa Jackson’s Final Message on Environmental Justice

If you haven’t seen it yet, read former Administrator Lisa Jackson’s final blog. She discusses why she made environmental justice an agency-wide priority and the progress EPA has made during her administration. Administrator Jackson also talks about issuing the “Plan EJ 2014 Progress Report” and how the Agency is ensuring that environmental justice is integrated into all of EPA’s day-to-day responsibilities through this strategy – everything from permitting, compliance and enforcement, to community-based programs and the work EPA does with other federal agencies.