Our Team

Jonathan Smith

Senior Attorney Community Partnerships Program

Jonathan Smith, Senior Attorney

Media Inquiries

Keith Rushing
National Communications Strategist
(757) 897-2147
krushing@earthjustice.org

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@JJSmith1123

LinkedIn

Bar Admissions

CA (inactive), NJ, NY

Pronouns

he / him

Jonathan Smith is a senior attorney in the Community Partnerships Program based in New York City. His work focuses on providing legal support to community and environmental justice groups in New Jersey to reduce and eliminate environmental burdens there. He joined Earthjustice in August 2014.

Jonathan received his B.A. from the University of Florida, law degree from Yale Law School, and a master’s degree from the Yale School of the Environment. Prior to Earthjustice, he clerked for the Honorable Robin S. Rosenbaum in the Southern District of Florida and worked as a Legal Fellow for Oceana in Washington, D.C. Jonathan also served as a Coordinator for International Relations for Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

The Latest from Jonathan Smith

January 12, 2024

In the News: Waste Dive

EPA proposes update to MSW combustor emissions standards for 9 pollutants

Quoted: Jonathan Smith

“For far too long, municipal waste incinerators have been exposing environmental justice communities across the nation to unnecessary risks and far dirtier air. We’re relieved to see the EPA is finally taking action to strengthen its oversight of waste incinerators, and we’re hopeful that the updated standards will provide overburdened communities with much-needed relief and meaningful improvements in air quality.”
January 24, 2022

In the News: Tap Into Newark

Newark Environmental Justice Advocates Call On EPA to Update Regulations for Waste Incinerators in Lawsuit

Quoted: Jonathan Smith

“It matters for the communities around the country that have these large incinerators that are in a majority of environmental justice communities like Newark, Camden and Rahway.”
August 24, 2021

In the News: Grist

The EPA may finally reckon with aviation’s dirty secret: leaded fuel

Quoted: Jonathan Smith

“It’s unconscionable to think about the hundreds of thousands of children that have been exposed to lead over all of these years from airport activity.”
A flooded factory farm waste lagoon in Goldsboro, N.C.
December 13, 2018

A Stench That Sickens, and an EPA That Doesn’t Care

By Jonathan Smith

The public can comment through Dec. 14 on an EPA rule that would shield thousands of livestock facilities from reporting toxic emissions.
The waste lagoon of this North Carolina factory farm flooded in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew, contaminating the nearby Neuse river. Yesterday, the D.C. circuit court agreed with Earthjustice that the government and the public have a right to know about to
April 12, 2017

Toxic Emissions from Factory Farms No Longer a Secret

By Jonathan Smith

The D.C. circuit court agreed with Earthjustice that the government and the public have a right to know about toxic emissions from industrial animal facilities.
Earthjustice is heading to court to fight a rule that exempts livestock facilities from reporting their pollution.
December 12, 2016

Potentially Lethal Emissions Go Unreported on Factory Farms

By Jonathan Smith

Earthjustice is heading to court to fight a rule that exempts livestock facilities from reporting their pollution.