TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection is promising a commitment to environmental justice with a new initiative. The commissioner says New Jersey's Environmental Justice Law is the most aggressive in the country.
“All eyes are on New Jersey when it comes to environmental justice right now,” DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said.
Low-income communities, often home to minority residents, are overburdened by certain stressors that come from living near factories, landfills, waste management facilities and other places that create unpleasant and unhealthy environments for those neighborhoods. The state broke this down into 26 stressors and has a formula to see if a community is over-burdened based on averages at the state and county level in a number of categories.
“We’re comparing conditions in overburdened communities versus those not considered overburdened,” said Sean Moriarty, DEP commissioner for legal and regulatory affairs. “For each of the stressors we just talked about, they would be assigned a value and a geographic point of comparison.”
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There are 26 defined stressors, including ground-level air contamination, vehicle traffic, scrap metal sites and a lack of trees — among others.
Under a set of proposed rules, new permits and renewals will be given to companies only after they prove it won’t make air quality and water quality worse.
“Whether it’s dropping a wind turbine into the ocean that could disrupt habitat, or proposing to build a power plant in the City of Camden, we seek to avoid adverse outcomes.”
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The DEP also showed off an interactive map, showing where these types of facilities are located — "to give communities information about existing environmental and public health stressors within their communities,” Director of Environmental Justice Kandyce Perry said.
There are several public comment sessions scheduled for this summer, so residents can voice their concerns. Companies seeking permits are then required by law to address each concern. One of the sessions is in Camden at the Kroc Center on July 13 at 6:30 p.m.
The goal is to implement the new regulations by the end of the year. Though LaTourette says current permit applications are being considered with these new rules in place.