Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 182 § 182.543 — Reports by council

Reports by council. (1) The Environmental Justice Council, in consultation with natural resource agencies, shall identify in a report to the Governor and, in the manner required in ORS 192.245, the Legislative Assembly: (a) Guidance for state agencies regarding how to use the environmental justice mapping tool developed under ORS 182.555 when adopting rules, policies or guidelines. The guidance must be flexible to accommodate differences in agency directives. (b) Best practices for increasing public participation and engagement in policy decisions by providing meaningful involvement. (c) Recommendations on how to best meaningfully consult environmental justice communities. (d) Recommendations for establishing measurable goals for reducing environmental disparities across Oregon and ways in which state agencies may focus their work toward meeting those goals. (e) Guidelines for identifying environmental justice communities, including guidelines for further defining environmental justice communities developed from the inclusive community engagement process described in ORS 182.555. (f) Guidelines for evaluating socioeconomic benefits and burdens to environmental justice communities. (2) The report prepared under this section may include: (a) Recommendations for approaches to integrate an analysis of the distribution of environmental burdens and benefits across population groups into evaluations performed under state environmental laws; (b) Equity analysis methods that may include a process for describing potential risks to, benefits to and opportunities for investments and mitigation; (c) Best practices for cataloging and collecting data on programs within natural resource agencies related to health and environmental factors; and (d) Recommendations for criteria for identifying and addressing gaps in current research and data collection to inform state agency actions, to refine the environmental justice mapping tool and to identify factors that may impede the achievement of environmental justice. (3) The council, in consultation with the natural resource agencies, shall review and update the report required under this section at least once every five years. [2022 c.58 §13] Note: See note under 182.535.