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On September 18th, New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed a “first-of-its-kind” environmental justice law (S232/A2212) that establishes permitting requirements for facilities looking to operate in the state’s “overburdened communities”. The law seeks to protect low-income and minority communities from disproportionate exposure to environmental harm. Governor Murphy calls it “the strongest environmental justice law in the nation.”

The law will require the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to publish and maintain a list of “overburdened communities”, which are defined as those census blocks where at least (a) 35% of households qualify as low-income; (b) 40% of residents identify as members of a minority or tribal community; or (c) 40% of households have limited English proficiency. Facilities covered under the law - including incinerators, waste treatment plants, and landfills - that seek a permit to operate in an overburdened community will be required to file an environmental justice impact statement with the DEP, and hold a public hearing where it listens to public comments from the community. 

The law requires the DEP to consider the “cumulative environmental and public health” impact of proposed operations on designated communities, including the “past, present, and reasonably foreseeable” effects of pollution. If granting a permit would cause the community to suffer environmental or health “stressors” higher than those borne by other communities in the state per the metrics established by forthcoming DEP regulation, the permit must be denied. 

There is a carveout in the law by which the DEP can permit facility construction or operation where a new or expanded facility serves a “compelling public interest”. Such facilities will, however, be required to abide by certain conditions to protect public health. These conditions are unspecified in the law, but will presumably be circumstance-dependent.

Theresa McClenaghan, executive director and counsel at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), says she is not aware of any similar environmental justice-focused law anywhere in Canada.

Photo: Tim Tai/Philadelphia Inquirer