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”…