A New Jersey appeals court on Monday upheld the state’s first-of-its-kind rule to keep pollution out of low-income areas and communities of color.
The victory for the state keeps in place a 2023 rule package crafted by the Department of Environmental Protection to make it harder for eight different industries, including power plant developers, to get permits in places now considered “overburdened.”
In 2020, the Legislature approved a landmark “environmental justice” law but left a lot of decisions about how to interpret it up to rulemaking officials in Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration. Industrial groups challenged the subsequent rule by arguing DEP officials overstepped lawmakers’ intent.
Among the most controversial parts of the rule was Murphy officials saying they did not consider job creation and economic activity a “compelling public interest” that would allow developers to jump hurdles and get their projects green-lighted.
