Toward a More Just Environment: New Jersey Enacts Nation's First Environmental Justice Regulations

One of the most significant advancements in environmental law in a generation is taking shape in the State of New Jersey , where pioneering Environmental Justice Rules aimed at reducing pollution in vulnerable communities were recently put in place.

When certain industrial facilities known to emit higher levels of pollution seek permits to locate or expand operations in New Jersey communities overburdened by environmental and public health stressors, state regulators are now obligated to ask and resolve a seemingly simple question: how much is too much?

No, environmental regulators did not already do that. The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is the first regulatory agency in the nation to assess and limit what some call the cumulative impacts of pollution.

It is reasonable to ask why such an act of environmental governance is necessary in 2023 when overall air and water quality in the United States is better than it was fifty years ago when the nation's foundational environmental laws took root. Those laws have indeed been effective in reducing air, water, and hazardous waste pollution for most people. The sad truth, however, is that our environmental laws have historically fallen short of equally protecting low-wealth communities and communities of color. Look around, and you may notice that the particularly noxious facilities—incinerators, waste transfer stations, and other major sources of air pollution—are often concentrated in marginalized communities.

Blind spots?in existing environmental laws are (but one) part of why the most underserved communities in America often suffer disproportionately higher environmental stress and related health implications. But, when we know better, we can do better. Driven by their commitment to reduce these disparities, Senator Troy Singleton and Assemblyman John McKeon led the New Jersey Legislature to pass, and Governor Phil Murphy, signed the most empowering environmental justice law in the United States in late 2020.

Like most environmental legislation, New Jersey's EJ Law was not self-executing. It stated the problem, articulated the goal, and instructed NJDEP to build the map to get us there. The resulting EJ Rules, supported by the Environmental Justice Assessment, Mapping, and Protection (EJMAP) tool purpose-built by NJDEP, will together help reduce the blind spots in our otherwise effective environmental laws. A reflection of the EJ Law's intent to center the lived experience of overburdened communities in the industrial facility siting process, the EJ Rules and EJMAP were each shaped through a deliberate community-first public process.

At their core, New Jersey's EJ Rules require covered facilities to directly and meaningfully engage with residents of a host community before a covered facility could be sited or expanded in their community. That engagement, like the design of the facility itself, must be informed by an assessment of environmental and public health stressors that already affect the host community. This appraisal of local conditions supplements the more regionalized assessment common to most preexisting environmental laws. The rules encourage permit applicants to avoid and minimize localized environmental or public health impacts and, where necessary, may require an added commitment to make other environmental improvements directly in the host community.

With New Jersey's EJ Rules adopted and its EJ Law now in full effect, we mark the beginning of a paradigm shift in the work of environmental management and natural resource protection. Where state regulators recognize and affirmatively seek to reduce the cumulative impacts of pollution that, historically, have been disproportionately thrust upon black, brown, indigenous, and low-wealth communities. Where, with time and intentionality, we will make our environment and our neighbors' lived experience of it better. Where we refuse to make false choices between a healthy environment and a healthy economy.?

Where, together, we chart a new course for our future—with a stronger, more just environment at its center.?

As we mark this step toward more equitably protecting public health and the environment we share, let us remember that our work to deliver on the promise of environmental justice is far from complete.

Yet, for New Jersey communities long overburdened by pollution, there is new cause for hope.

And, for others across our country, there is a new example.

with gratitude...

This advancement in environmental law has been made possible by the determined advocacy of frontline community leaders, environmental and social justice champions, and their allies. While the EJ movement has deep and far-reaching roots, New Jersey's state government was especially called to action by the Ironbound Community Corporation led by its Deputy Director of Organizing & Advocacy Maria I Lopez-Nunez and its (former) Environmental Justice & Planning Director Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista , now Professor of Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at The New School's Milano School , Dr. Nicky Sheats who leads The John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy & Research at Kean University , the South Ward Environmental Alliance led by Founder/Director Kim Gaddy , the NJEJA -NJ Environmental Justice Alliance led by Executive Director Melissa Miles , and the many members of overburdened communities who stood up, spoke out, and shared their lived experience of environmental inequity so that it may inform the work of their government. Democracy, in action.

Instituting regulatory change that disrupts the status quo and makes a real-world difference depends on policy, bureaucratic, and technical innovation powered by dutiful public servants. Here, the thoughtful leadership, acumen, and resolve of Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty inspired the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to lean into its innovative capacity and build a novel regulatory framework that will, with time and consistent application, improve the quality of life of those we serve. He and other NJDEP regulatory experts like Melissa Abatemarco , environmental health data masters like Christine Schell , Kevin Pretti , and Alec Ayers, PhD , and environmental equity pros like Kandyce Perry (to name but a few) have brought New Jersey's Environmental Justice Rules to life.