Bill > S802

Introduced Session

This bill would authorize the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to designate an area within a municipality a "burdened community" and, prior to a DEP determination on a permit application in a burdened community, require an additional environmental evaluation and a public hearing. A burdened community is one in which at least one-half of the households in the area qualify as low-income households, at least one-half of the residents are members of a minority group, and there is at least one "major facility" regulated pursuant to the "Air Pollution Control Act (1954), at least one property that is included on the list of known hazardous discharge sites maintained pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1982, c.202 (C.58:10-23.15 et seq.), and there is one facility regulated pursuant to (1) the "Water Pollution Control Act," (2) the "Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act," or (3) the "Solid Waste Management Act." Before any permit is approved in a burdened community, the DEP would be required to prepare a report assessing the environmental impact of the proposed project and conduct a public hearing in a location convenient as much as possible to all interested parties. Following the public hearing, the DEP would be required to consider the testimony presented and evaluate any revisions or conditions to the permit that may be necessary to reduce the adverse impact on the public health or to the environment in the burdened community. The bill authorizes the department to deny a permit application in a burdened community upon a finding that the approval of the permit would, together with the cumulative adverse health and environmental impacts posed by the existing conditions, including conditions resulting from permitted activities, in the burdened community, constitute an unreasonable risk to the health of the residents of the burdened community and to the environment in the community. Finally, the bill would prohibit the department from approving a permit unless the governing body of the municipality in which the burdened community is located adopts an ordinance approving the project.

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Loretta Weinberg (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee (on 01/12/2016)