The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has recently implemented an updated environmental justice policy, marking the first significant revision in almost two decades. The new policy aims to give higher priority to communities disproportionately affected by pollution and health issues in terms of facility inspections and permit enforcement.
Introduced last month and open for public comment until the end of November, the revised policy encourages DEP staff to focus more on communities identified as environmental justice areas in various departmental operations, including the distribution of grant funds and enforcement of regulations. Officials indicate that this could lead to higher fines for violations within these communities.
The revised policy differs from the 2004 original in its approach to defining environmental justice areas. Previously, these areas were identified based on race and income criteria alone. The updated policy incorporates over 30 factors, including health data like asthma and cancer rates, proximity to oil and gas wells, exposure to air pollution, race, and income, creating a comprehensive scoring system that also brings more rural areas of Pennsylvania into consideration.
One aspect of the new policy is its increased emphasis on public participation in the permitting process for facilities that could affect public health or the environment. This expansion goes beyond providing information and engagement opportunities, seeking to integrate community priorities more closely in DEP’s activities.
However, the policy does not empower the DEP to deny or modify permit applications for new polluting facilities based on existing pollution burdens in a community. Critics, including Mathy Stanislaus, vice provost and director of Drexel University’s Environmental Collaboratory, note that while the policy includes cumulative burden analysis, it doesn’t translate this analysis into permit decision-making processes.
David Clowney, a retired philosophy professor with a focus on environmental ethics, echoes these concerns, highlighting the need for community voices to play a decisive role, a feature he finds lacking in the current policy.
DEP officials, such as Fernando Treviño, Pennsylvania’s special deputy secretary for environmental justice, recognize these limitations but emphasize the significance of the policy revision. Treviño notes that while the policy does not introduce new regulations or requirements for permit applicants, it guides DEP staff on incorporating environmental justice considerations into their decision-making and daily operations.
Moreover, Treviño points to a bill currently pending before a Pennsylvania House committee that, if passed, would allow the Department of Environmental Protection to deny permits in environmental justice areas based on the cumulative impacts of existing facilities. This legislative development could further enhance the policy’s effectiveness in addressing environmental justice concerns in Pennsylvania.
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