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We demand that the city establish a permanent Environmental Justice office with a public <br />health expert on staff, to conduct regular meetings with residents and community <br />organizations to guide implementation of these policies, give regular reports on local <br />environmental health issues, and ensure a relationship of accountability and transparency <br />between the city and the community. <br />Furthermore, the Environmental Impact Report should not be passed as is, because it does <br />not account for the fact that removing lead -based paint, as one of the General Plan provisions <br />requires, actually shakes lead loose into the air and substantially increases soil -lead <br />contamination in the area. Therefore, mitigation will be necessary to counteract this <br />environmental impact. Furthermore, by the Planning Department's own admission, the EIR's <br />data is set to expire in February 2022. An updated EIR with fresh data, community input on <br />which neighborhoods are designated as EJ Communities, and consideration for the impacts <br />of lead paint removal activities is necessary before the city can ethically move forward with <br />the General Plan Update. <br />If City Council decides to vote on the General Plan Update and Environmental Impact Report <br />at the next council meeting, please vote not to approve the Environmental Justice <br />components of the plan without our recommended revisions, and do not approve the EIR <br />without accounting for the stale data and increase in lead contamination that the Plan could <br />cause. Failing to account for these issues will place the city in violation of California S131000, <br />a dangerous move when the eyes of the California Attorney General's office are fixed on <br />Santa Ana. If necessary, feel free to approve the Housing Element of the plan --but please, do <br />not ignore these urgent health crises facing our community. <br />Thank you for taking the time to listen to our voices, and for fulfilling your responsibilities as <br />the council members we elected to represent the needs of our community <br />Katie Cox <br />katie.coxshrader@gmail.com <br />37 Park Ave. <br />Long Beach, California 90803 <br />