On September 18, 2020, New Jersey became the first state to pass a law requiring state regulators to consider the environmental and public health impacts on overburdened communities when they review permit applications. While this law was put into effect April 17, 2023, the work advocating for the law began long before then. In the 1980s, environmental justice advocates began to define the reality that a person’s zip code often determined their quality of life and health based on things like the level of pollutant exposure, water quality, open space, etc. There has been an ongoing push over the past 15 years to have laws in place to protect people from facing disproportionate impacts from climate change and industrialization. A major stepping stone on the path to the statewide Environmental Justice Law was formed by work with the Ironbound Community Corporation and City of Newark that resulted in the Environmental Justice Ordinance in Newark which was passed in 2016 and enacted on November 1, 2023 .  

The statewide Environmental Justice Law gives the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) the authority to ask those requesting permits: Is the community you are looking to build in already experiencing more than a fair share of pollution? Is it deemed an overburdened community by factors such as income, limited English proficiency, and race?

Previously if you met the requirements of the NJDEP and state and federal laws you were authorized, companies weren’t required to look at existing sources of pollution in the community. The Environmental Justice Law now requires that an Environmental Justice assessment considering the entire facility property be completed to avoid additional contributions of pollution to an overburdened community. This assessment must be complete even before clean air or water permits are given by the NJDEP. Another requirement of the law is that the applicant must have meaningful involvement with the community they are looking to build in. This means the applicant must host meetings and a public hearing in addition to submitting an Environmental Justice impact statement. The whole process becomes more transparent and there is space for community members to be informed in advance and make comments that the applicant must respond to.  

Anecdotally, Kandyce Perry, the Director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the NJDEP, reports that since the law has been in place, more people have engaged with the NJDEP on the topic of Environmental Justice. A conversation means there is attention on the issue which is always a good thing.