By Renée Pollard • Environmental and Social Justice Committee Chair
Environmental justice communities across the state have long been subjected to the burden of poor air quality and airborne toxins. Community leaders and environmental leaders came together and made the bold statement that enough is enough. They are tired of their children being sick from asthma; they are tired of being sick themselves from chronic lung diseases and cancers; and they are tired of loved ones dying from these diseases. Power plants, incinerators, sewerage plants, landfills, and the like are all major sources of pollution in their neighborhoods.
Some years ago, the conversation began on how to best create a change for better health conditions in overburdened communities. These concerns were brought to the attention of a few longtime environmentalists, NJ Sens. Loretta Weinberg, (NJ-37), and Troy Singleton, (NJ-7). They joined forces to create a bill that would help provide some health protections to smog-filled communities in the state. Out of this partnership championed by Singleton, the Overburdened Communities Cumulative Impacts bill (A2212/S232) was crafted. The original bill, sponsored by retired Sen. Ronald Rice, was introduced back in 2008.
The bill was designed to stop polluters from adding to the air quality problems already in environmental justice communities. It allows for a checks-and-balances system of public hearings for any permit applications.
Is the bill perfect? No, but it sets the standard of protecting the public’s health against toxic polluting facilities. It is historic and serves as a model for other states to adopt. Gov. Phil Murphy signed the Overburdened Communities Cumulative Impacts bill into law at a momentous event in 2020. In establishing this law, New Jersey gave notice to polluters that they will no longer be allowed to poison the residents in our state. New Jersey is now on the path to clean air and protecting the health of the residents in the state.
Or so we thought. Two years later, this historic landmark law has not been implemented. Why the delay? Final rule adoption was slated for late in 2022 but had not happened even as this newsletter went to press. Facilities across the state, like Covanta in Camden, have continued to try and request modification permits for new projects. Covanta contends it will expand its waste-to-energy plant but at the same time install pollution measures that reduce its harmful impact. The new law is not perfect, but it will provide some protections for overburdened communities. It is an opportunity for a different trajectory for New Jersey, a state that is promoting clean energy programs, a green economy, offshore wind and solar programs, and an end to fossil-fuel consumption.
Enough of the excuses. It’s time to move forward together. Overburdened communities deserve better than this. They have suffered enough. No more sacrifices. It’s time to deliver on the promises that were made two years ago. No more delays.
For more about S232, see NJ Law Would Give Overburdened Communities a Say by Sia Satish.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Martin Luther King Jr.