We are proud to join @WEACT4EJ and over 90 organizations calling on Congress to increase funding levels for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) including environmental justice programs, in fiscal year 2026. After catastrophic and unlawful environmental justice funding cuts from the current administration, this call from organizations across the country emphasizes the need to protect all of our access to clean air, water, and land.
Read the full letter below:
In May, we joined our partners at the Equitable and Justice National Climate Platform and 65 organizations across the country in a letter urging the House of Representatives and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to protect funding for environmental justice programs like the Clean Ports program and the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. These funds are crucial for EJ communities, as they help reduce local air pollution and protect public health.
Programs that improve public health such as Air Pollution Monitoring for schools, the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants program, Clean Ports Program and the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program are not only vital to protecting vulnerable communities from a legacy of greater hazard exposure, they are also needed investments to create opportunity. The grant funds aren’t just a dollar figure. These are real losses—for residents breathing polluted air, for communities threatened by climate risks. It is extremely important that members of Congress oppose any provisions in the budget reconciliation bill that cancel public health protections. We must protect environmental justice programs that are crucial to the health and well being of the most vulnerable communities.
Read the full letter below:
Yesterday, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners voted YES to building a FOURTH fossil-fuel power plant in Newark’s Ironbound, a devastating blow to a community that has spent years demanding clean air. This decision is a slap in the face to the residents, technical experts, and advocates who have laid out viable, cleaner solutions. Instead, PVSC chose to ignore science, health, and community voices in favor of its profits. Newark doesn’t need another polluting facility; the city needs REAL investment in its future, not more toxic infrastructure.
NJEJA stands with the Ironbound and those across the state who have spoken out against this dangerous decision.
To PVSC: We will not stop fighting. Everyone deserves clean air, regardless of their zip code.
Read our full statement below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2025
Press Contact: Melissa Miles, Executive Director | melissa@njeja.org
Newark, New Jersey – The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating environmental injustices in communities of color and low-income communities, is deeply disappointed in PVSC’s decision to approve project plans to construct a fourth power plant in the City of Newark. We call upon the Commissioners to reconsider their decision and halt construction plans.
Communities have been clear in their opposition to this plan, and PVSC’s decision to support the plan directly flies in the face of community agency and autonomy. For years, a multitude of community members in the Ironbound, advocates, and residents from across the state have highlighted the ways that a fourth power plant would bring about dangerous increases in local air pollution and contribute to the effects of climate change. The approval of this project, which would burn natural gas and potentially utilize hydrogen fuel, directly contradicts the state’s clean energy goals. Any plan for additional plants that do not rely solely on truly clean energy risks increasing local air pollution levels, including both greenhouse gases and co-pollutant emissions.
PVSC’s decision represents a threat to both environmental justice and public health, as well as a direct disregard and disrespect to community members opposing this plan. We stand in solidarity with residents, community members, advocates, and community-based organizations who have vehemently opposed this project. We will not give up. We demand clean air for all persons across this state, regardless of their zip code. “
“I am disappointed that the Passaic Valley Sewerage commission has approve the construction of an additional power plant instead of taking this opportunity to collaborate with the community to create a solution that everybody could support.”
Nicky Sheats. Ph.D., Esq.,
Director, Center for the Urban Environment, Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University
Senior Policy Fellow and Lecturer, Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
“It is very regrettable that the PVSC board of commissioners has chosen to vote against climate science, clean technology, and community voices. Our goal is to avert the health impacts of another toxic gas plant in an already environmentally overburdened community. Instead of taking the high road, PVSC continues to take the path of least economic and political resistance at the expense of the Ironbound and neighboring communities. We expect more from our utilities and our dollars.”
Melissa Miles
Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
“This yes vote is not only incredibly disappointing, but an example in which community members have been passed over and not valued as the equal stakeholders in this process that they are. Many technical experts, advocates, experienced community members, and residents have not only vocally opposed this project, but offered viable alternatives and solutions to the issues PVSC has raised. Newark does not want – or need – a fourth fossil-fuel burning power plant.”
Brooke Helmick
Director of Policy, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
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To learn more and read our open letter to PVSC, click the button below.
As a vote on the proposed PVSC power plant appears imminent, NJEJA is shining a spotlight on our letter to PVSC which went unanswered. On September 19, NJEJA submitted a letter to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s Commissioners expressing our deep opposition to the proposal of a fourth power plant in the Ironbound Community of Newark, New Jersey.
For years, community members both in the East Ward and across the state have been clear: no more power plants in Newark! Not only has the community continually come to monthly PVSC meetings to voice strong opposition to this plan, but numerous technical, legal, and planning experts have highlighted that there are better alternatives for the energy needs of PVSC than a fourth power plant.
We stand in solidarity with the residents of the Ironbound in opposing this plant as it will contribute to local air pollution, exacerbate risks to negative health outcomes, and continue a reliance on fossil fuels when a rapid transition to renewables is deeply needed.
Commissioners, leave behind a legacy of environmental justice and Vote No on this proposal.
Environmental justice organizations across the country came together to support federal protections of LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) which brings not only economic relief to families across the country, but yields public health benefit as well.
This letter – addressed to the House and Senate Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies – calls on lawmakers to fully fund LIHEAP at $5.1 billion, and to include supplemental emergency funding of $2 billion. Additionally, the letter requests assurances that the LIHEAP office will be fully staffed moving forward after news broken that HHS illegally fired LIHEAP staff.
Read the full letter below:
NJ organizations from across the state and advocacy spaces joined together to call on Governor Murphy’s office to continue their support for the implementation of the Advanced Clean Trucks rules and regulations. The rules would support efforts to curb local air pollution levels by incrementally increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road, thereby decreasing levels of diesel exhaust and related air pollution. This work has co-benefits of supporting climate mitigation policies as well as public health goals.
To learn more about the Advanced Clean Truck rules, read our blog post Debunking ACT Myths. For questions, please reach out to us at info@njeja.org.
Read the full letter below:
In continuation of reviewing and redoing the 2019 New Jersey Energy Master Plan, the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) solicited comments on their analysis and work. NJEJA offered our support and guidance based on our work, experience, and relationships with community partners to articulate support for increased usage of renewable energy, opposition to carbon capture/hydrogen technologies, and continued prioritization of low-income and environmental justice communities.
For questions, please reach out to us at info@njeja.org
Read our full set of comments below:
When discussing emissions, the focus often centers on power plants, while the environmental impacts of goods movement (i.e., trucks, trains, ships, and other forms of transportation) are frequently overlooked. In 2020 alone, New Jersey’s Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles (MHDV) fleet neared 423,000 vehicles and was responsible for producing approximately 7.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, which are direct contributors to climate change. Mid-sized vehicles include utility and delivery vehicles, motorhomes, ambulances, and small school buses, while heavy-duty vehicles include dump trucks, tractor-trailers, and construction vehicles, among others. Collectively, MDHVs account for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions from road fleets.
In addition to their role in the climate crisis, medium and heavy-duty vehicles are major contributors to poor air quality, producing dangerous co-pollutant emissions such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), and sulfur oxides (SOx). These emissions range in color and weight, but have been demonstrated to have severe health impacts. They disproportionately affect environmental justice communities — particularly low-income communities, and communities Of Color — due to their proximity to transportation hubs and goods movement infrastructure. As a result, EJ communities bear the brunt of our easy access to goods via a myriad of negative health impacts, including higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and respiratory infections, as well as adverse birth outcomes such as low birth weight, premature birth, and neurodevelopmental difficulties. These negative health impacts produce both emotional stress and physical tolls to communities, while also imposing significant economic costs.
Recognizing the need to address these problems, the New Jersey legislative body adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Rule, modeled after a similar California rule. ACT aims to facilitate a transition to zero-emission medium and heavy-duty (MHDV) trucks from 2025-2035 by requiring manufacturers to sell these trucks at an increasing percentage of their yearly sales. By enacting this rule, New Jersey jas joined a coalition of 11 other states nationwide working to reduce emissions from MHD vehicles, reducing air pollution, and advancing environmental justice through the adoption of electrified vehicles.
In New Jersey, implementation of the ACT Rule will follow a gradual, upward trajectory over ten years. The regulation primarily impacts two main groups: vehicle manufacturers and dealers. Manufacturers comply with the ACT Rule through a credit and deficit structure. Under this framework, each sale of a fossil-fuel-powered vehicle incurs a deficit, while sales of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) or near-zero-emission vehicles (NZEVs) generate credits. The value of each credit and deficit is weighed according to the vehicle’s size and classification, with larger trucks incurring more credits/deficits and smaller trucks incurring fewer. By the end of the year, manufacturers reach compliance when the total number of credits retired equals the total deficits. Dealers, then, are responsible for selling and distributing the vehicles that manufacturers produce.
The chart below demonstrates the progression of zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) that manufacturers must follow:
| Year | Class 2b-3 | Class 4-8 | Class 7-8 |
| 2025 | 7% | 11% | 7% |
| 2026 | 10% | 13% | 10% |
| 2027 | 15% | 20% | 15% |
| 2028 | 20% | 30% | 20% |
| 2029 | 25% | 40% | 25% |
| 2030 | 30% | 50% | 30% |
| 2031 | 35% | 55% | 35% |
| 2032 | 40% | 60% | 40% |
| 2033 | 45% | 65% | 40% |
| 2034 | 50% | 70% | 40% |
| 2035 & beyond | 55% | 75% | 40% |
Sales Percentage Schedule (2025-2035)
The successful implementation of ACT in other states has led to a rapid shift in industry behavior, undeniably lowering tailpipe emissions and improving air quality in these states. One such example comes from California, where the state body facilitating ACT implementation noted that ZEV sales more than doubled from 2022-2023.
Despite the clear and dire need to address the effects of diesel-powered vehicles — including their physical, communal, environmental, and climate impacts — and the demonstrated success of ACT in other states, there has been significant industry opposition to this rule. Additionally, proposed legislation in the New Jersey Assembly threatens to delay implementation of ACT until 2027.
While we acknowledge that stakeholders may have valid concerns, many of these issues were also raised in California and other ACT states and were successfully addressed in tandem with implementation. Below are a few misconceptions about ACT that NJEJA hopes to dispel.
For the health of our communities, the success of ACT’s implementation, and the growth of the ZEV economy, it is essential to continue on the path started in the initial rule-making and adhere to the original implementation timeline. Diesel emissions not only endanger the health and well-being of surrounding communities but also pose significant risks to those within the industry itself, including truck drivers and warehouse workers who experience prolonged exposure to air pollutants. By advancing the transition to zero-emission vehicles, we can significantly reduce health impacts and improve the well-being and quality of life for workers in the industry. Surely there will be challenges as implementation of a new program is never a simple process, but it is only through cross-sector collaboration (including environmental and social justice groups, community members, workers in the trucking industry, other industry stakeholders, health experts, and elected officials) that we can holistically address these concerns without delaying ACT implementation. Only then can we be sure we are taking the necessary steps towards decreasing local air pollution and greenhouse gases through technology that has been tested and proven to work effectively and at scale.
References:
Advanced Clean Trucks Rule (CA): https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/regact/2019/act2019/fro2.pdf
CARB: 1 in 6 new trucks, buses, and vans in California are zero-emission: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/1-6-new-trucks-buses-and-vans-california-are-zero-emission
EPA: EPA Awards $250 Million to Electrify I-95 Freight Corridor with Green Technology: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-awards-250-million-electrify-i-95-freight-corridor-green-technology
Global Drive to Zero. Zero-Emission Technology Inventory (ZETI). https://globaldrivetozero.org/tools/zeti/
NACFE: https://nacfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/medium-duty-electric-trucks-cost-of-ownership.pdf
NESCAUM: Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.nescaum.org/documents/ACT-FAQ_website-version_clean_FINAL_09-17-24.pdf
New Jersey’s Clean Truck Program Report: https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/nj-clean-trucks-report.pdf
World Health Association: https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-energy-and-health/health-impacts
For questions, please reach out to us at info@njeja.org
New Jersey Environmental and Environmental Justice Advocates gathered alongside medical professionals to discuss the urgency and necessity of solutions to the plastic waste crisis. Speakers included experts from Environment New Jersey, Just Zero, Clean Water Action, and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance as well as NJ Pulmonologist Dr. Walter Wynkoop and Rutgers University Pharmacology and Toxicology Professor Dr. Phoebe Stapleton.
On the eve of the last NJ Senate Energy and Environment Committee, advocates called on legislators to pass Senate Bill S. 3398, Packing Product Stewardship Act sponsored by Sen. Bob Smith. In particular, advocates called on the legislature to include strong provisions to reduce toxics in packaging, eliminate any exemptions to the law, ensure chemical recycling was not included as an alternative to true recycling, and to provide for strong accountability and transparency requirements. With nearly 40% of plastic used for packaging, the need for this bill is incredibly apparent. View the press conference and read the full press release below.
Read the full press release
On October 29, NJEJA submitted comments to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection in the public comment period regarding PVSC’s permit proposal for the construction of another power plant in the Ironbound Community of Newark, NJ. For years, community members and advocacy groups have been clear: we cannot afford to have another power plant in Newark. Another plant would risk exacerbating already disproportionate levels of air pollution, contribute to cumulative impacts, and continue to bring negative health outcomes to residents in the surrounding area.
As was said in our letter to the board of commissions, “High rates of asthma, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and reproductive issues already plague the Ironbound community. Moving forward with this project would be a direct and disrespectful disregard for the health of the people who live, play, and work in this community. It would continue the harms of environmental racism and exacerbate the climate crisis.”
Read our full comments below: