California Alliance for Children’s Environmental Health (CACEH)

The California Alliance for Children’s Environmental Health (CACEH) are working to coordinate groups across sectors for urgent action to radically improve state policy on children’s environmental health and justice.

This effort is based on the findings of a landscape analysis showing the incredible strength of California’s environmental health & justice leaders and pointing to the valuable strategy of framing environmental issues as children’s health issues.

CACEH is a network of local, regional, and statewide organizations that collaborate to raise awareness of environmental health issues affecting children in California, identify and build momentum behind focused policy priorities to improve environmental conditions for children, and lift youth leaders in the development of a children’s environmental health policy agenda and efforts to promote that agenda.

• Key bills this session:
  • AB 249 (Holden) – Lead testing of drinking water at schools
  • AB 418 (Gabriel & Wicks) – The California Food Safety Act
  • AB 579 (Ting) – Zero-emission schoolbuses
  • AB 652 (Lee) – Department of Pesticide Regulation Environmental Justice Advisory Committee
  • SB 252 (Gonzalez, Stern, & Wiener) – Public retirement systems divestment form fossil fuels
  • SB 394 (Gonzalez) – Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Schools

• Weighing in on California Climate Resilience Bond funding distribution
• Continued oversight of Department of Pesticide Regulation and Environmental Justice Committee
• Supporting youth activism and direct action campaigns
• Children’s Environmental Health Month (October)

• Environmental Health Factsheet (Oct 2022)
• Launch of CACEH Announcement
• Oct 2022 CA Environmental Health Briefing
• Center for Native American Youth: Fast Facts
• Climate Science Alliance: Building Authentic Collaborations with Tribal Communities
• Children’s Environmental Health Network: CA Profile
• Californians for Pesticide Reform Paper: Childhood Cancer
• CalPIRG: Kids’ Health
• American Academy of Pediatrics: Environmental Health Resources

• Environmental Working Group: 1-in-4 Child Care Centers have Alarming Levels of Lead in Drinking Water
• California Environmental Health Landscape Analysis
• America the Beautiful for All Coalition 2023 Policy Agenda
• California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment: Children’s Environmental Health Center
• Harvard University Place Matters; The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development Working Paper 16 (March 2023)

• Bringing greater awareness of environmental health and climate change to pediatricians and health providers in California, mobilizing health professionals for EH work
• Preventing childhood exposure to toxins and environmental hazards (e.g., lead in drinking water, toxic food chemicals, fiberglass, cleaners, beauty products)
• Greater funding and better infrastructure for electric vehicle (EV) buses
• Public education around gas stoves and childhood asthma
• Strengthening climate education, greater accountability around fossil fuel emitting businesses near schools, accessibility to healthy resources, mitigating food waste and carbon footprint of schools

• Improved enforcement of pesticide school buffer zones and prioritizing EJ policies for pesticide use and regulation
• Decarbonization of school environments and pensions, including climate resilience infrastructure changes
• And much more!