NEPA Changes – Climate Change and EJ evaluations
Posted: June 5th, 2024
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published the final rule on May 1, 2024, with Phase 2 revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Changes to NEPA include changing or replacing the word “impact” to “effect” for general clarity. […]
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Legal Challenges Threaten United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Environmental Justice Agenda
Posted: February 6th, 2024
The U.S. EPA has been facing increasing pushback in the courts, threatening to derail their environmental justice (EJ) wins, and putting the administration’s ability to enforce its EJ agenda at risk. First, on January 19th, the Louisiana Court of Appeal […]
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Environmental Justice: Looking Ahead to 2024
Posted: January 17th, 2024
2023 was another busy year in environmental justice (EJ) both at the federal and state levels. From the federal level, we saw a continuation of a lot of the elements from 2022 along with some new guidance and initiatives from […]
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U.S. EPA Releases Several New Documents Related to Environmental Justice Policy
Posted: December 14th, 2023
On November 9th, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) finalized the first major change to the cost benefit guide for regulatory changes in 20 years, including changes that address the benefits of greenhouse gas rules, and putting […]
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Air and Waste Management Association Holds its First Annual Environmental Justice Conference
Posted: November 14th, 2023
A&WMA held its first annual conference on EJ in Arlington, VA on October 23rd and 24th. The conference had a different vibe than most of the environmental conferences industry attends and had two distinct sets of attendees: Industry […]
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New Jersey Environmental Justice Rule Public Participation and Implications
Posted: October 26th, 2023
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) published the final Environmental Justice Rule (EJ Rule) on April 17, 2023. The EJ Rule (N.J.A.C. 7:1C) was promulgated in response to New Jersey’s Environmental Justice Law (EJ Law) that was signed […]
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Advancing Environmental Justice: New Jersey’s Approach to Addressing Cumulative Stressors
Posted: October 16th, 2023
Advancing Environmental Justice: New Jersey’s Approach to Addressing Cumulative Stressors On April 17, 2023, the final Environmental Justice (EJ) Rule (N.J.A.C. 7:1C) officially became effective in New Jersey (NJ). The overall goal of this EJ Rule is to avoid disproportionate […]
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Unlocking Opportunities: Pennsylvania’s New Environmental Justice Policy Takes Effect on September 16, 2023
Posted: September 20th, 2023
On September 16th, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) adopted an interim final Environmental Justice (EJ) policy (Interim Final EJ Policy) that introduces new requirements for projects classified as “trigger projects” when they apply for permits from […]
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Equity in Virginia Permitting: A Focus on Environmental Justice
Posted: September 13th, 2023
The Commonwealth of Virginia (VA or Commonwealth) enacted the Virginia Environmental Justice (EJ) Act (Act) in 2020, making a VA policy to, “… promote environmental justice and ensure that it is carried out throughout the Commonwealth, with a focus on […]
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U.S. EPA Releases the ECHO Clean Air Tracking Tool (ECATT) and EJScreen 2.2
Posted: July 19th, 2023
In the last few weeks, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has released one new tool, the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) Clean Air Tracking Tool (ECATT), and updated another, releasing EJScreen version 2.2. These new tools […]
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