DTSC Evaluation 2023

Senate Bill 158, the 2021 legislation which created the California Board of Environmental Safety (“BES” or “Board”), specified, among various mandates and authorities, that the Board conduct an annual performance evaluation of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and its leadership (see Health and Safety Code section 25125.7: “The board shall annually prepare and transmit to the Secretary for Environmental Protection an annual report of the department’s performance as compared to its objectives, including, but not limited to, the performance of the director.”). This evaluation is based on the Director’s priorities set for the calendar year 2023.

The Director’s objectives were presented in January 2023, and were voted on at the January 26, 2023 board meeting. These priorities describe our collective efforts to ensure safer communities from an environmental and public health point-of-view, throughout California.

In our evaluation, the board examined each of the 12 priorities, assessing what was intended for calendar year 2023, what was achieved, with the associated metrics and results. Where appropriate, the Board has made recommendations for 2024, reflecting our commitment to continuous improvement, accountability, transparency, and effective public service.

At the May 22, 2024 board meeting, the board decided to accept public comments for 30 days, attach them as an appendix, and transmit the final evaluation to the Secretary of CalEPA. The deadline to submit public comments on the DTSC Evaluation was originally scheduled for Friday, June 21, 2024. The Board has extended the deadline to Monday, July 8, 2024.

The public comment period for the 2023 DTSC Evaluation is now closed.

Public comments received:

• Markus B. Niebanck, PG, Principal of amicus – Strategic Environmental Consulting
• Californians for a Healthy & Green Economy (CHANGE), Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles (PSR-LA), Parents Against Santa Susana Field Laboratory, California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA), and Center on Race, Poverty, & the Environment (CRPE)