Two years ago, Minnesota passed a landmark cumulative impacts law. The law—a big win for environmental justice—is built on the idea that communities already experiencing more than their share of pollution shouldn’t have to endure even more. Since it passed, the Sierra Club has been working with the Frontline Community Protections Coalition to make sure the law is put into practice the way it was intended.
Right now, that work is at a turning point. If the state gets this right, we’ll see cleaner air and better health for people who have historically carried the heaviest pollution burden.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has released its proposed rules for implementing the law, and the public comment period is underway. To help residents respond, the Frontline Communities Protection Coalition hosted workshops in the Twin Cities, Duluth and Rochester. Sierra Club members and supporters submitted over 50 personalized comments to urge the strongest possible rules and greatest community benefits, holding polluters accountable and ensuring that our neighborhoods, especially those already overburdened, will see improvements in air quality and public health.
Raising your voice matters. Strong rules on paper only stay strong if regulators know people are watching. Public comments help push the draft rules to be as protective as possible while countering the pressure that polluting industries are putting on the MPCA to weaken them. Every comment makes it harder for that pressure to win.
In their own words:
“I’m a St. Paul resident, and every summer, it seems like our state sees dramatically reduced air quality due to smoke from wildfires burning on other parts of the continent. While we can’t control the direction of that fire smoke, we can and should take the strongest possible action to mitigate air pollution caused by industries based in Minnesota, and that’s where MPCA comes in. Those of us living in the Twin Cities already see worse air quality than most other parts of the state, and the problem is worse in impoverished and under-served communities. Living in an urban environment should not mean putting up with substantially worse air quality. Please include a clear definition of substantial adverse impacts in your newly drafted rules so they cannot be as easily exploited by industries, and model the cumulative impacts analysis after New Jersey’s law — one of the strongest in the country — to help all Minnesotans breathe cleaner, less polluted air.”
“As a citizen, teacher, parent, and grandparent, and advocate for justice in all phases of life, I am aware that in many places around our country, people are exposed to very different levels of pollution and health risks. The job of the MPCA is to ensure that all people in the state have a clean and healthy environment — not simply to make sure that each permit to pollute meets the criteria for that activity. If a source of pollution is permitted in an area already impacted by pollution, the effect on the people living there may be different than if the permit were issued in an area with no pollution present. The cumulative impact is what matters, not the level of each individual source. This is obvious. Please adopt strong rules to ensure that cumulative impacts are considered when permitting decisions are made.”
“Karen Clark has been a great champion of these laws. Let’s honor her legacy and continue holding industry accountable! I’m writing in to ask you to rigorously apply the Frontline Communities Protection Act so that industry cannot exploit loopholes. Thank you for crafting a strong law to protect vulnerable communities across the state.”
Read other letters and discussion online at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency comments page.
What’s next
On September 1, an Administrative Law Judge will hold a public hearing on the draft rules. This is a chance for Minnesotans to show up in person and show state leaders this fight isn’t going away. Stay tuned to Sierra Club North Star Chapter for details on how to attend and make your voice heard.