Inside Climate News
Since late 2025, CRPE’s community leaders and staff have been actively involved in efforts for the approval of SB 954. After the legislature’s passage, the bill is now on Governor Newsom’s desk. Community members are urging Governor Newsom to partner with them and sign SB 954.
Community leader and Committee for a Better Shafter president, Anabel Marquez, shares her experience living in Shafter, a community that has experienced cumulative pollution. Ms. Marquez highlights the importance of protections against dangerous developments and why SB 954’s Governor approval is vital.
From Shafter resident, Anabel Marquez
Since I began learning and advocating for environmental justice with my fellow Shafter community members over 20 years ago, I learned the importance of CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. My family and many others in Shafter suffer from the cumulative impacts of pollution– the air in our neighborhoods is among the most polluted in the state.
Thanks to CEQA, our community has learned about large development projects that could further pollute our community and we have been able to go to public meetings, express our concerns, and provide ideas to mitigate potential harms in our neighborhoods.
Our community members have been closely involved and active in advocating for the clean up SB 131, a dangerous law passed in 2025 that allows the development of a long list of “advanced manufacturing” projects without CEQA review, regardless of the harm the project could have. For example, SB 131 grants CEQA exemptions to strip mining, chemical manufacturing and waste incineration projects. SB 954 would narrow the “advanced manufacturing” definition and establish important guardrails.
We have been in Sacramento on countless occasions speaking directly to legislators about the importance of SB 954. Our communities support the following community protections in SB 954:
- Environmental review and transparency requirements apply to any “advanced manufacturing” project located in, or within 1,000 feet of, a disadvantaged community, or within 1,600 feet of a home, school, or other sensitive receptor;
- Restoring the protections for sensitive, threatened, and endangered species habitat included in AB 130 (2025) and other recent exemptions; and
- Requiring exempt “advanced manufacturing” facilities to enter into a community benefits agreement with enforceable requirements and adhere to provisions that promote high-quality job opportunities.
Now that the Legislature has passed SB 954, we urge Governor Newsom to sign SB 954 into law. Governor Newsom’s support will ensure that our communities’ wellbeing and health will be protected. We appreciate the Governor’s support in protecting our communities and look forward to seeing the news of his approval of SB 954. In his last months as Governor of California this is an opportunity for Governor Newsom to prove himself a real partner for environmental justice communities fighting the harmful impacts of climate change and environmental injustices.
Anabel Marquez
President, Committee for a Better Shafter