New Jersey first passed their landmark environmental justice law in 2020 — and issued their implementation rules a few years later. Before the ink was dry on Gov. Murphy’s signature, we started hearing concerns that the new requirements would be too burdensome for business and would cause potential economic development to leave the state.
While far from perfect, the EJ law was a first in the country. Since its passage, nearly a dozen other states have passed their own versions, often in collaboration with New Jersey stakeholders to learn what’s been working, and what can be improved. My hope is that as we progress and see more permits issued (two have been issued to date), New Jersey stakeholders will realize that there are numerous ways to help shape this process toward the ultimate goal of sustainably reducing impacts in the community.
At first glance, environmental regulations have been an incredible success over the last 30 years in cleaning up contaminated sites and improving ambient air quality. But for the most part, these policies have not focused on overburdened communities (OBCs). There is a direct correlation between the congestion of industrial sources and major transportation routes with elevated levels of cardiovascular and pulmonary problems. It is no coincidence that the majority of OBCs in the state follow the I-95 corridor. Mobile sources are a critical issue. For any project to truly grasp their impact on local communities, they first must compare the economic, environmental, and social impacts of their processes against the existing social baseline.
The EJ law attempts to do this by focusing on 26 stressors to gauge potential impacts from a project on existing elevated metrics within that local community. Seven of these 26 are tied to particulate matter emissions, which is a leading cause of the health problems noted above. Many of the stressors are also linked to climate change impacts, and the ability of local community members to recreate and get jobs within their neighborhoods. The state provides baseline information on stressors in each census block within New Jersey and compares conditions within the OBC to those in a similarly scaled community not in an OBC (this is called the Geographic Point of Comparison or GeoPOC). It is critical to objectively consider what is causing elevated stressors. The goal is to lessen stressor burdens in the OBCs so they get more like the non-OBCs.
The NJ Department of Environmental Protection is aiming to accomplish this by making applicable facilities (major air sources “aka Title Vs” are the largest chunk, but there are seven others) propose conditions to reduce their environmental impacts when possible or in some cases update their emission controls. Some call this process subjective and arbitrary and would argue for a de minimis exception to these rules.
No two communities are alike and while a source of elevated impacts may be apparent in one, in others it is often the cumulative impacts of multiple smaller sources. The overarching goal should be for everyone to find ways to reduce their impact. We have seen multiple examples around the country of proactive industrial action on these topics resulting in shorter project timelines and increased resiliency.
The problem is not just going to go away. These elevated levels of adverse conditions in pockets of the state are risks to businesses in those communities because they directly affect their workforce and could lead to reputational damages for inaction.
This issue has been politicized ad nauseum over the last few years, and one of the gubernatorial candidates has promised extensive environmental deregulation. No matter who wins the election in a few weeks, I hope they are willing to embrace nuance, and the truth that a large percentage of their constituents live every day with elevated stressor levels that the more affluent do not.
Chris Whitehead is the owner and CEO of Chris Whitehead Consulting, a firm which aims to provide regulatory compliance, permitting and advisory services to major and minor air sources throughout the country.
