The disparate citing 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 – sacrifice zones – for pollution and other environmental hazards.
In 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 – the cumulative impacts – of all sources of pollution, both in their community and adjacent to it.
In 2020, thanks to the advocacy of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and others, New Jersey passed the nation’s first legislation 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, 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.
New York State’s Environmental Justice Siting Law
In 2022, WE ACT was among the leading organizations that passed an even stronger cumulative impacts law, New York State’s Environmental Justice Siting Law. which ensures that cumulative impacts are taken into consideration in the State’s environmental permitting processes when potentially polluting facilities seek permits in disadvantaged communities.
June 2022 Webinar on New York State’s Environmental Justice Siting Law
WE ACT is now working with organizations across New York State to assist in the rule-making process of the Environmental Justice Siting Law, which is key to effective implementation of this legislation. As we learned from our colleagues in New Jersey, it is essential to close potential loopholes to ensure that polluters cannot avoid compliance.
October 2024 Webinar on Implementation of New York State’s Environmental Justice Siting Law
April 2025 Webinar on the Rulemaking Process for New York State’s Environmental Justice Siting Law
Broader Implications
The potential weakening of federal environmental protections, such as the National Environmental Policy Act, has led to uncertainty regarding the evaluation of cumulative impacts in legislative and regulatory actions at the federal level. As a result, it has become imperative for environmental justice advocates to focus on local and state strategies that can address the placement of multiple-polluting sources – and the cumulative impacts they have on public health and climate change – in low-income communities and communities of color.
Drawing inspiration from the groundbreaking efforts of New Jersey and New York, we strive to establish a solid foundation for the enactment of local and state cumulative impacts legislation in states and municipalities throughout the nation. In fact, we worked with Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law to create a suite of model bills – available at DismantlingInjustice.org – designed to assist states with developing their own cumulative impacts legislation. In the absence of string federal regulations and legislation, such actions would go a long way in in addressing the environmental racism that has plagued the health and well-being of our communities for generations.