By Gary Frederick • Environmental and Social Justice Committee Member
In September of 2020, Gov. Phil Murphy signed historic, first-in-the-nation legislation that required the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to consider the public health impacts on overburdened communities when reviewing the permit applications for eight types of facilities: gas-fired power plants and co-generation facilities, sludge processing facilities, garbage incinerators, solid waste facilities, scrap metal facilities, medical waste incinerators, landfills and recycling facilities.
The affected communities are typically lower income and already plagued with dirty air and water, existing polluting power plants, and soaring health problems, such as asthma and lead in drinking water.
The new law, called the Environmental Justice Law, is considered by some to be the most stringent in the nation. It requires applicants seeking a permit to prepare an environmental justice impact statement and hold public hearings. The DEP can then reject the permit or require modifications to protect overburdened communities. However, it was not until April 2023, after the final rules and guidelines were adopted, that the law became enforceable.
How effective has the law been in curbing the development of dangerous and polluting facilities in overburdened communities? The jury is still out.
Limited Early Results
As of this writing, the DEP website lists only one example of a permit application being impacted by the new law. That’s the Passaic Valley SewerageCommission’s (PVSC) Standby Power Generation Facility Project. The commission had proposed this gas-fired plant to provide backup power to its Newark sewage treatment plant during power outages.
In July 2024, after an environmental impact statement and public hearings, the DEP issued strict conditions for how the plant could operate. It required the PVSC to run the plant only as a backup and not continuously, install additional pollution controls, install a minimum of 5 megawatts (MW) of solar and 5 MW of battery storage at the treatment plant, and study how to convert the gas-fired plant to renewable energy.
At the time, DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said, “This is precedent-setting action. There are always opportunities to reduce a facility’s overall pollution, and the Environmental Justice Law required this analysis and that the effort be made.”
If there are other instances in which this law has kicked in, they are not as well publicized as the power generation project in Passaic. Additional developments, such as the implementation of the Environmental Justice Mapping, Assessment and Protection Tool, have been of some benefit to overburdened communities. As required by the new law, this tool identifies communities most affected by pollution and climate change. It uses income, race, air quality, health, and other data to identify areas facing the greatest environmental burdens.
The Law Needs to Go Further
Projects that were proposed before the law was signed continue with no environmental review of the scope required by the Environmental Justice Law. Others are undergoing public hearings, such as the operating permit renewal application for the Union County Resource Recovery facility sought by Reworld (formerly Covanta).
New Jersey is a state rife with fossil-fuel power plants, recycling facilities that handle toxic materials, and other pollution threats. No doubt with the Trump administration’s elimination of clean air and water regulations, and with its general disregard for overburdened communities, we’ll see more dirty projects proposed in stressed communities such as Camden and Newark.
Under Trump, there will be more proposals for the eight types of facilities covered under the EJ law. More plans for liquefied natural gas plants, port expansions, and use of “bomb” trains carrying dangerous fuels and chemicals could also be introduced. It’s time to broaden this law for the onslaught of fossil fuel-intensive projects to come.
Renee Pollard, chair of the Environmental and Social Justice Committee of the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club, agrees. “Since New Jersey adopted the final rules for the law in April 2023,” she said, “there have been positive results, such as the PVSC power plant. But the law isn’t perfect, and it needs to go further. It’s clear to me that we need to start working on a bill that covers the gaps in this law.”
Resources
PVSC Decision: https://dep.nj.gov/ej/law-decisions/
EJ Map Tool: https://dep.nj.gov/ej/law/