Victory: NJ Appellate Court Affirms Legality of Environmental Justice Law

Today, New Jersey’s Appellate Court affirmed the legality of regulations to implement the state’s Environmental Justice Law (EJ Rule). Despite multiple attacks from industry, the court sided with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection that its rule was lawful. Ironbound Community Corporation, South Ward Environmental Alliance, and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance appeared as friends of the court in support of the rule, represented by Earthjustice.

Among the many parts of today’s ruling, the court affirmed that claims of economic benefits cannot be used to allow new sources of pollution in overburdened communities. The court also upheld the EJ Rule’s application in industrial census block groups, and upheld the Rule’s methods for proposing control measures to reduce pollution.

“The Court’s decision to uphold the EJ Rules on all grounds is great news. The decision affirms the years-long organizing of many EJ groups like ours, who advocated for a law that protects overburdened communities from further pollution,” said Alejandra Torres, Assistant Director of Advocacy and Organizing with Ironbound Community Corporation. “ICC and our partners, NJEJA and SWEA, will continue to monitor how the EJ Rules are being implemented to ensure the spirit of the law is protected.”

“Environmental racism has shaped policy and permitting decisions in New Jersey for generations. Neighborhoods like the South Ward and Ironbound of Newark were expected to shoulder the health consequences of constant exposure to toxic emissions,” said Dr. Leah Owens, Ports and Policy Analyst for South Ward Environmental Alliance. “Today’s ruling protects the integrity of a law our communities fought for, and it ensures that residents who have borne the brunt of environmental harm for far too long will finally have the safeguards and accountability they deserve.”

In affirming the EJ Rule, the New Jersey judiciary ensured that facilities could not create loopholes in the regulation, that economics could not continue being used as an excuse to pollute already oversaturated communities, and that DEP had the authority pursuant to the EJ Law and its enabling statute to make the nuanced decisions required to craft a strong and viable EJ Rule. 

“Today’s decision was a win for all New Jersey residents, but primarily for the environmental justice communities that have long championed this fight. When our environmental laws protect our most vulnerable communities, they protect us all,” said Casandia Bellevue, Senior Associate Attorney with Earthjustice. “Progress comes in fits and starts and can be easily lost, but today, by ensuring the EJ Rule implementing the historic 2020 EJ Law remained strong and whole, New Jersey’s judiciary protected the progress the State has made towards creating a healthier future for all of New Jersey.”

“The fact that the Court has affirmed the legality of the rules that implement the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law is a victory for the communities Of Color and communities with low-income the law was created to protect,” said Dr. Nicky Sheats, Chair of the Board, Member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. “Now it must be ensured that the law and the rules are, in reality, implemented in a manner that improves the health of these communities by reducing the amount of pollution that endangers them.”

Appellants New Jersey Chapter of The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) and Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 (ELEC) challenged the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)’s 2023 Environmental Justice Rule (“EJ Rule”) implementing the historic  Environmental Justice Law passed in September 2020.