Goals

1. Protect and enhance environmental health and public health by minimizing and where possible eliminating:
   • The use of hazardous or toxic materials, in particular POPs (persistent organic pollutants) and PBTs (persistent bioaccumulative & toxic chemicals), by residents, businesses and city operations;
   • The levels of pollutants entering the air, soil and water; and
   • The risks that environmental problems pose to human and ecological health.
2. Ensure that no one geographic or socioeconomic group in the city is being unfairly impacted by environmental pollution.
3. Increase consumption of fresh, locally produced, organic produce to promote public health and to minimize resource consumption and negative environmental impacts.

How are we doing? 

This year Santa Monica voters supported the implementation of the Watershed Management Plan by passing the Clean Beaches and Ocean parcel tax. This allows work to begin on a comprehensive 20-year approach to improving water quality in the Santa Monica Bay, including significantly enhancing the level of investment in our stormwater infrastructure and our pollution control efforts. The city continued its commitment to protecting the bay and its marine habitat by prohibiting the use of all non-recyclable plastic take-out food service containers.  Sales of recycled water from the Santa Monica Urban Runoff and Recycling Facility (SMURRF) increased 35% to a total of 32 million gallons per year. The cumulative number of Santa Monica households properly disposing of hazardous waste at the Household Hazardous Waste Center increased from 29% to 36%.  Four thriving farmers’ markets, one of which is regularly a zero-waste event, provide access to fresh, locally grown and organic produce. These successes aside, the grade for this area has dropped because wastewater levels continue to be high and the city is far from reaching its targets for beach closures and Santa Monica Bay pollution reduction.