{"id":5514,"date":"2025-06-10T13:57:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weact.org\/?post_type=program&p=5514"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:52:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T14:52:31","slug":"cumulative-impacts-new-york-states-environmental-justice-siting-law","status":"publish","type":"program","link":"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/programs\/cumulative-impacts-new-york-states-environmental-justice-siting-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Cumulative Impacts: New York’s Environmental Justice Siting Law"},"template":"","class_list":["post-5514","program","type-program","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","program_tax-cumulative-impacts-new-york-states-environmental-justice-siting-law"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":5518,"program_type":false,"abstract":"Cumulative impacts describe the the multiple sources of pollution that disadvantaged communities must face, along with the adverse health impacts this exposure has on those who live and work there. In 2022, WE ACT for Environmental Justice worked with fellow advocates to pass New York State's Environmental Justice Siting Law, landmark legislation designed to help reduce the cumulative impacts of pollution on these communities."},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_hero_links","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_hero_links":{"title":"","abstract":"","links":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"The disparate siting of sources of pollution is at the heart of environmental racism. Due to redlining and other tools of institutional racism, communities of color have historically served as dumping grounds \u2013 sacrifice zones \u2013 for pollution and other environmental hazards.\r\n\r\nIn New York State, permitting had been done on a case-by-case basis, examining the pollution to be emitted from the facility in question, whether that be factories, power plants, bus depots, sewage treatment plants, garbage dumps and transfer stations, or trucking centers. The pollution from other sources in the community was never taken into consideration, even though the residents were subjected to the combined totality \u2013 the cumulative impacts \u2013 of all sources of pollution, both in their community and adjacent to it.\r\n\r\nIn 2020, thanks to the advocacy of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and others, New Jersey passed the nation\u2019s first legislation<\/a> that requires the State to consider how certain facilities seeking permits to construct and\/or operate in overburdened communities will contribute to environmental or public health stressors in that community in a manner that is disproportionate compared to its neighbors. Listen to our Uptown Chats podcast interview with Dr. Nicky Sheats<\/a>, co-founder of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and director of the Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, who was instrumental in the development of New Jersey's Cumulative Impacts law.\r\n\r\nNew York State\u2019s Environmental Justice Siting Law<\/strong>\r\nIn 2022, WE ACT was among the leading organizations that passed an even stronger cumulative impacts law<\/a>, New York State\u2019s Environmental Justice Siting Law. which ensures that cumulative impacts are taken into consideration in the State\u2019s environmental permitting processes when potentially polluting facilities seek permits in disadvantaged communities.\r\n\r\n