Two new bills support NJ environmental justice communities' fight against pollution

Camden, New Jersey shore line (Source: Pixabay)

Two new bills could help empower NJ communities most deeply impacted by industrial pollution and power generation waste.  The bills—S-232 - the Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Bill, and S-2484 - the NJ Clean Energy Equity Act —were discussed by community and environmental justice leaders Ana Baptista, Maria Lopez-Nunez, and Nicky Sheats at a public forum on June 30.  The Roundtable was convened by NJ Spotlight and moderated by founding editor John Mooney and Energy & Environment reporter Tom Johnson. Senator Cory Booker gave opening remarks, and the discussion placed clean energy developments in the context of an unprecedented moment of societal change and calls for racial justice.    

"We have a nation that has a horrific record of environmentally toxic sites that disproportionately—in a dramatic way—affect people of color, Indigenous Americans...and low-income Americans," said Senator Booker.  "Whether it is air quality with people in places like Newark ...having four times the asthma rate of nearby suburbs, all the way to the proliferation of Superfund sites, we are a nation that just hasn't prioritized this."

Passed on June 29, the Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts bill requires the evaluation of environmental risk and public-health impacts on burdened communities as part of the permit application process for new or expanded facilities. The statute establishes a community review process that includes public hearings and the opportunity for constituents to support or oppose a project based on the potential impact on residents.

Bill S-232 also defines a "burdened community" as "any census tract…ranked in the bottom 33 percent of the census tracts in the state for median annual household income." The bill requires and directs the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to generate a list of burdened communities in the state, which would be updated periodically based on newly available household income data. 

NJ Spotlight Energy & Environment reporter Tom Johnson asked panelists for their reaction to the news.

"It's just the power to say 'no,'" said Maria Lopez-Nunez, Deputy Director of Organizing and Advocacy with the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) in Newark. "We want to be wholesome in the way we shift society.  While this bill is a huge step forward - that is absolutely necessary - I want us to....turn equity into not just a phase.  That's what we're hoping to see at this moment, a complete waking up."

The approval of S-232 follows decades of work and campaigning by environmental justice advocates, a point underscored by Ana Isabel Baptista, Ph.D., director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School, and an ICC trustee. She voiced cautious optimism about the bill's potential effects.

"The state of New Jersey has no less than four or five executive orders on environmental justice and dozens of environmental justice policy statements. And yet, when you come to the City of Newark or the City of Camden and you propose another polluting facility or another power plant...the state of New Jersey steps back and says, 'we can't do anything,'" Baptista reminded viewers. "I am hopeful that the rhetoric around Black Lives Matter and environmental justice and equity turns into tangible outcomes, because the outcomes ultimately are what matters to communities that are experiencing racial violence in a variety of ways through pollution."  

The Roundtable also included discussion of S-2484, the NJ Clean Energy Equity Act. The bill would create the Office of Clean Energy Equity within the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (OCEE) to "oversee the equitable deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency programs and technologies in overburdened communities." The OCEE would prioritize the needs of these communities, create opportunities for workforce development and training in clean energy programs, and reduce the energy burden of some 250,000 low-income households by 2030.

In addressing S-2484, panelists discussed New Jersey's current energy efficiency programs and plans to electrify the transportation system, especially in environmental justice communities. 

“…We need to do energy efficiency and renewable energy in EJ communities; but that's not enough to reduce air pollution in those communities. We have to couple that with specific strategies that will reduce air pollution in those communities," said Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq., of the Center for the Urban Environment and the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance.

As New Jersey weighs alternative energy sources for its transportation system, proponents  advise a two-pronged approach that allows for long term planning as well as immediate solutions for pollution relief.

"We need to electrify passenger vehicles. But from an environmental justice perspective, what's more critical is that we deal with the parts of the transportation sector that are...having immediate health-harming impacts on communities of color and low-income communities in some of the most densely populated portions of the state, like Newark," said Baptista.

The panelists agreed that the bills could help improve public health and energy resources for environmental justice communities throughout New Jersey. As the event drew to a close, Baptista reminded viewers to continue to convey support for the Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts bill, and the Clean Energy Equity bill, both of which have yet to become state laws.

S-232 is currently in the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee. The next committee hearing is set for July 20. S-2484 has been referred to the Senate Environment and Energy Committee and will be discussed in a hearing scheduled for July 16. Provided the bills are approved by the Assembly and the Senate, they will be sent to Governor Phil Murphy. Once approved and signed by the Governor, these bills will become law. 

Cassandra Etienne is CivicStory's Interim Editor