Newark EJ Ordinance: Environmental Review Checklist

Chapter 41:20A
EXHIBIT A: ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW CHECKLIST

§ 41:20A-1. Environmental Review Checklist.

  1. Cover Sheet:

    1. Name of applicant entity.

    2. Contact information (name, email, phone, address).

    3. Location of Proposed Project (address and block and lot).

    4. Summary description of proposed project (one paragraph only) including proposed dimensions of any buildings and total project cost.

    5. Existing land use at project site and existing land use zoning designation.

    6. Requested variance, if any.

  2. Permits:

    1. List of all permits and approvals needed.

    2. Copy of any permits already obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, or evidence of inclusion in the Essex County Solid Waste Management Plan after advice of the Essex County Solid Waste Advisory Council.

  3. Basic Form – For Covered Applicants with a Commercial or Light Manufacturing Use, including those uses within an MX-1 or MX-2 Zone…

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Press Release: FAQ on S. 232 A 2212: NJ’s Cumulative Impacts and Environmental Justice Bill.

Stop Environmental Racism, Pass S232/A2212 - July 2020

Why is it so important to pass S232 now without any changes? This bill begins to prevent future environmental injustices as well as right the injustices of the past. Communities Of Color and low income communities have been disproportionately poisoned by pollution for far too long, and are suffering more than other communities under the COVID pandemic. DEP does not currently have a policy in place to consider cumulative, disproportionate pollution or its public health effects when issuing permits for highly polluting facilities. This bill has been 12 years in the making. People of Color lives matter and we can’t afford more delay.

What does S232/A2212 do? It requires DEP to: 1) evaluate environmental and public health stressors in overburdened communities when reviewing permit applications for highly polluting facilities; and 2) approve, condition or deny a permit after meaningful consultation with the applicant and overburdened community.

Who supports the bill? The Senate passed it June 29th with bi-partisan support led by NJ Sens. Singleton, Weinberg and Ruiz. The Assembly bill has 16 sponsors led by Asm. McKeon. Gov. Murphy, US Sen. Booker, the NJ Urban Mayors Assoc. led by Mayors Kelly and Baraka, Lt. Gov. Oliver, DEP Commissioner McCabe, and NJ’s environmental justice and environmental communities all have publicly endorsed the bill.

What is an “overburdened community” as defined in the bill? Any census block (the smallest unit of analysis possible) where at least: 35% of households are low income; 40% of residents are Of Color; OR 40% percent of households have limited English proficiency. These thresholds are based on our NJ state averages and conforms with the definitions in other states like NY, CT, MN, and CA…

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Addressing Cumulative Impacts Through Local Land Use and Policy Tools: Newark Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance

A case study of the Newark Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance

The Robert A. Catlin Memorial Lecture at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Newark’s Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance seeks to create stronger environmental and land use policy tools at the local level to prevent and mitigate additional pollution associated with a variety of development and redevelopment projects. It also addresses environmental justice by helping to prevent Newark, which has a disproportionate number of low-income and residents of color, from having

a disproportionate number of polluting projects placed within its borders. Three panelists will discuss the various components and impacts of the ordinance. A light reception will follow the panel.

Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq., Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy, Thomas Edison State University

Dr. Ana Baptista, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management and Associate Director, Tishman Environment & Design Center, The New School

Cynthia Mellon, Co-chair, City of Newark Environmental Commission and Coordinator, Newark Environmental Resource Inventory

A case study of the
Newark Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance

The Robert A. Catlin Memorial Lecture at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Newark’s Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance seeks to create stronger environmental and land use policy tools at the local level to prevent and mitigate additional pollution associated with a variety of development and redevelopment projects. It also addresses environmental justice by helping to prevent Newark, which has a disproportionate number of low-income and residents of color, from having

a disproportionate number of polluting projects placed within its borders. Three panelists will discuss the various components and impacts of the ordinance. A light reception will follow the panel.

Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq., Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy, Thomas Edison State University

Dr. Ana Baptista, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management and Associate Director, Tishman Environment & Design Center, The New School

Cynthia Mellon, Co-chair, City of Newark Environmental Commission and Coordinator, Newark Environmental Resource Inventory

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Assembly Appropriations Committee Statement To Senate Committee Substitute for Senate, No. 232

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: AUGUST 24, 2020

The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 232 (SCS/1R), with committee amendments.

This bill, as amended by the committee, requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to evaluate the environmental and public health stressors of certain facilities on overburdened communities when reviewing certain permit applications.

The bill defines the term “facility” to mean any: (1) major source of air pollution; (2) resource recovery facility or incinerator; (3) sludge processing facility, combustor, or incinerator; (4) sewage treatment plant with a capacity of more than 50 million gallons per day; (5) transfer station or other solid waste facility, or recycling facility intending to receive at least 100 tons of recyclable material per day; (6) scrap metal facility; (7) landfill, including, but not limited to, a landfill that accepts ash, construction or demolition debris, or solid waste; or (8) medical waste incinerator. The term excludes a facility as defined in section 3 of P.L.1989, c.34 (C.13:1E- 48.3) that accepts regulated medical waste for disposal, including a medical waste incinerator, that is attendant to a hospital or university and intended to process self-generated regulated medical waste.

Beginning immediately after the DEP adopts the rules and regulations required by the bill, the DEP would not consider complete for review any application for a permit for a new or expanded facility, or any application for the renewal of an existing facility’s major source permit, if the facility is located in whole or in part in an overburdened community, unless the permit applicant meets certain conditions. Specifically, a permit applicant would be required to…

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Press Release: New Jersey Sets National Precedent with Environmental Justice Bill Signing Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 18, 2020

CONTACTS:

Kim Gaddy, Clean Water Action, 973-914-2449

Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Ironbound Community Corporation, 201-978-6660

Ana Baptista, Ironbound Community Corporation, 973-342-6056

Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, 347-553-3338

Nicky Sheats, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, 609-558-4987

(Trenton) – After decades of local struggle and grassroots advocacy, New Jersey made history today when Governor Murphy signed into law a first of its kind Environmental Justice Bill (S232 – Singleton/McKeon/Weinberg/Ruiz). The law will direct the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to deny or condition certain permits due to cumulative, disproportionate impacts of pollution in environmental justice communities. This bill is the realization of countless efforts by environmental justice communities from Camden to Newark that have long called on the state to protect already overburdened communities. It is a beacon for environmental justice communities across every state and can pave the way for comprehensive national legislation.

“This new law gives the state the power to ‘just say no more’ pollution in my neighborhood. My children can look forward to breathing cleaner air as they recreate in Weequahic Park. Thanks to Senator Singleton, Assemblyman McKeon and Governor Murphy, New Jersey now has the strongest EJ law in the nation and demonstrates that Black Lives Matter,” said Newark resident Kim Gaddy, Environmental Justice Organizer, Clean Water Action. “Environmental justice communities like mine have suffered far too long.After more than 10 years of fighting for this legislation, our voices have finally been heard. Our communities will receive the right environmental protection for our complexion.”

“S232 gives us hope. Hope that our pleas for the right to breathe will be heard next time we face off with polluters who have been targeting Black and brown neighborhoods for decades. We can’t end environmental racism with one bill but we’ve now taken this historical first step,” said Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy, Ironbound Community Corp. “Newark has a fighting chance to breathe easier thanks to this law”…

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A New Jersey Law Makes a Clean Environment a Right. Other States Should Follow.

On August 27, the New Jersey legislature approved a far-reaching new environmental justice bill intended to reduce the harmful effects of pollution in low-income communities and communities of color. Gov. Phil Murphy has announced he will sign the bill into law on September 18.

The new law establishes a right to a clean environment for all New Jersey residents, stating: “all New Jersey residents, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, color, or national origin have a right to live, work, and recreate in a clean and healthy environment.” Further, the law states that, “no community should bear a disproportionate share of the adverse environmental and public health consequences that accompany the State’s economic growth.”

The law acknowledges that, “historically, New Jersey’s low-income communities and communities of color have been subject to a disproportionately high number of environmental and public health stressors, including pollution from numerous industrial, commercial and governmental facilities located in those communities” resulting in “increased adverse health effects including, but not limited to, asthma, cancer, elevated blood lead levels, cardiovascular disease, and developmental disorders”…

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New Jersey, ignore the outsiders. We’ve got our own experts to help us thrive.

Organizers from NJ THRIVES say that as President Joe Biden and our elected leaders plan for investments in industries like solar, wind and green infrastructure, they must expand opportunities to the very families that have borne the brunt of prior, failed policies. Photo Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger. SL

By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist

By Maria Lopez-Nunez, Melissa Miles and Amanda Devecka-Rinear

No one can truly understand a disaster unless they have lived through it. We’re all living through COVID-19 now, but for many of us, this is only the latest disaster.

President Joe Biden has made economic recovery and responding to the climate crisis key priorities and hopes to roll out trillions of dollars in spending on infrastructure and green energy.

Several members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation will play a critical role in shaping this legislation, particularly Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Monmouth, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will be tasked with writing the bill.

While this is promising, there has been no shortage of promises made to our communities. That’s why a ground-breaking new generation of leaders at NJ THRIVES is stepping on the scene. For too long, outsiders have shaped and decided what is best for frontline communities. NJ THRIVES is committed to building a future for New Jersey where all of us matter. It’s a future to heal our lands from a toxic past and restore our communities, where we are ready for flooding and storms, where our kids can count on good jobs, clean air to breathe, and where we protect our air and water for future generations. It’s a future where we thrive…
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Press Release: White House Announces Environmental Justice Advisory Council Members

The White House

Today, the White House announced the members of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The advisory council will provide advice and recommendations to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council on how to address current and historic environmental injustices, including recommendations for updating Executive Order 12898.

The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) was established by President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad to fulfill his and Vice President Harris’s commitment to confronting longstanding environmental injustices and to ensuring that historically marginalized and polluted, overburdened communities have greater input on federal policies and decisions.

“We know that we cannot achieve health justice, economic justice, racial justice, or educational justice without environmental justice. That is why President Biden and I are committed to addressing environmental injustice,” said Vice President Harris. “This historic White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council will ensure that our administration’s work is informed by the insights, expertise, and lived experience of environmental justice leaders from across the nation”…

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Murphy Administration Honors Leaders in Environmental Justice, Recycling, Climate Action with 2020 Environmental Excellence Awards.

(20/P048) TRENTON – The Murphy Administration is honoring a wide array of environmental leaders with its 2020 Environmental Excellence Awards—from elementary school students who spearheaded an enormous battery recycling effort to the social and racial justice champions who advocated the nation’s most progressive environmental justice law signed by Governor Murphy this September. This year’s honorees have moved the state forward on significant issues, including climate change, recycling, clean drinking water, and environmental justice.

image“As we celebrate our fiftieth anniversary and create an ambitious vision for the next 50 years, this is a historic year for environmental protection and this year’s honorees are on the leading edge of this important work,” said New Jersey DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe. “Their vision and innovation set a standard to which we can all aspire, and I look forward to their next milestones in environmental protection.”

“Governor Murphy and I congratulate and thank all of the winners for their contributions, as well as every New Jerseyan who has worked to protect our environment” said First Lady Tammy Murphy. “Despite the serious threat of the climate crisis, we are incredibly optimistic about New Jersey’s future because of the persistent advocacy, commitment and leadership of so many New Jerseyans in the fight against climate change.”

In his opening remarks at the virtual awards ceremony, DEP Deputy Commissioner Shawn LaTourette also noted that the 2020 “honorees exemplify the values that motivate us here at the Department of Environmental Protection and across the Murphy Administration: an abiding commitment to science and service, and a drive to confront our greatest challenges, and out of them create new opportunities that will help us build a stronger, fairer New Jersey.”

The 2020 awards were presented virtually and video is available on the DEP’s website and Facebook page. Excerpts from the presentation and videos of the honorees will also be featured on DEP social media channels throughout December…

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Press Release: Governor Murphy Signs Historic Environmental Justice Legislation

Nation’s Strongest Measure to Protect Overburdened Communities from Pollutants

Fulfilling a commitment to enact sweeping protections for environmental justice communities, Governor Phil Murphy today, alongside U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Mayor Ras Baraka, Senator Troy Singleton, Assemblyman John McKeon, and environmental advocates, signed legislation (S232), which requires the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate the environmental and public health impacts of certain facilities on overburdened communities when reviewing certain permit applications. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to require mandatory permit denials if an environmental justice analysis determines a new facility will have a disproportionately negative impact on overburdened communities.

The bill defines an overburdened community as any community where 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income according to the U.S. Census, 40 percent of households are minority, or 40 percent of households have limited English proficiency. There are approximately 310 municipalities with populations totaling approximately 4,489,000 that have overburdened communities within their municipalities…

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