Equity

Historically, New Jersey’s low-income communities and communities of color have been subject to undue environmental and public health stressors including exceptionally high levels of air and water pollution. Additionally, overburdened or environmental justice communities are likely to live near flood zones and/or with antiquated infrastructure.

Not Started

In Progress

Completed

First Year

Provide new state funding for water infrastructure, with a focus on environmental justice communities. Funds should prioritize lead pipe replacement (at least $500 million in principal forgiveness for low-income communities), addressing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) (at least $400 million), and climate resilience ($300 million, with principal forgiveness for water infrastructure improvements that enhance climate resilience). Additionally, prioritize non-point source pollution, emerging contaminants, aging septic systems, and harmful algal blooms. Allow for a portion of the funds to be redirected if federal funding directly funds priorities and pursue a policy of maximizing the acquisition and use of federal funds for water infrastructure and pollution abatement.

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First 100 Days

Provide new state funding for water infrastructure, with a focus on environmental justice communities. Funds should prioritize lead pipe replacement (at least $500 million in principal forgiveness for low-income communities), addressing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) (at least $400 million), and climate resilience ($300 million, with principal forgiveness for water infrastructure improvements that enhance climate resilience). Additionally, prioritize non-point source pollution, emerging contaminants, aging septic systems, and harmful algal blooms. Allow for a portion of the funds to be redirected if federal funding directly funds priorities and pursue a policy of maximizing the acquisition and use of federal funds for water infrastructure and pollution abatement.

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First 100 Days

Support urban and community forests and shade trees and parks, playgrounds or green spaces in environmental justice communities by prioritizing Green Acres, Natural Resource Damages, environmental settlements, and other state and federal funding for these projects in a transparent manner. Set a timeline towards the goal of ensuring that every person living in an environmental justice area has access to well-designed, well-funded, well-maintained, well-programmed parks, playgrounds, or green spaces within a 10-minute walk from home or workplace.

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First 100 Days

Finalize funding agreement and transfer of property for the proposed Essex Hudson Greenway.

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First Year

Continue and increase funding for the State’s Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund for brownfield cleanup, including its use for brownfield to greenfield park development projects and preparatory work for solar fields

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First Year

Establish State support for open schoolyards and assist school districts to find ways to address concerns about public safety and maintenance in order to support this effective way to increase close-to-home access to park and recreational resources for many residents of New Jerseys’ urban neighborhoods.

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First Year

Release report, based on ongoing listening sessions (including in environmental justice communities), provide guidance and implement relevant administrative actions to identify appropriate locations for warehouses and other goods movement facilities.
1. Building up, rather than out (“high cube” warehouses)
2. Require warehouses to be solar- and green-roof ready
3. Enabling more goods to be shipped by rail
4. Prioritize heavy- and medium-duty trucks and port equipment for vehicle electrification and establish “zero-emission zones” in port areas
5. Prohibiting the siting of warehousings on prime agricultural land

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First Year

Develop new trails and maintain existing trails through:
1. Enhance staffing and capacity to accelerate trails projects to ensure coordination and capacity across state agencies for recreational and circuit trails
2. Support of DEP’s Statewide Mapping Initiative and using the data to create a statewide network of trails
3. Increasing use of federal transportation funds for multi-use trails
4. Provide planning, design, and construction support to environmental justice communities to ensure the success of trail projects
5. Condition use of state funding for trails to ensure design and accessibility for people of all ages and abilities
6. Partner with and fund nonprofit organizations and community-based organizations to assist with maintenance, repair and construction of trails around the State
7. Update and implement the New Jersey Trails Plan in cooperation with the New Jersey Trails Council, including priority trail gaps and how to close them
8. Increase award size under the Recreational Trail Program grants in order to facilitate completion of major projects
9. Showcase Governor remarks during the 2022 Trails Summit that speak to the tremendous mental and physical health benefits, as well as tourism and economic benefits of trails
10. Convene stakeholder process to review permitting process for trail construction to identify obstacles that result in environmental degradation and threats to visitor safety

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First Year

Develop and finalize a diversity and inclusion plan that ensures that people of all ages, ethnicities, abilities and income levels enjoy our State parks, wildlife management areas and other open spaces.

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First Year

Ensure “Jersey Fresh” programs assists with marketing new farm products, including organic grains.

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First Term

Establish a Safe Routes to Parks program, similar to Safe Routes to Schools, where neighborhoods are reviewed as a whole and parks are accessible and welcoming.

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First Term

Create and fund a new urban state park comprising Petty’s Island and nearby Camden waterfront open space and restoration parcels.

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First Term

Continue to robustly and consistently fund farmland preservation through federal, state and local programs, with a focus on access and ownership of land for minority, young and beginning farmers, and indigenous tribes. Grow and promote LandLink program to include minority farmers, as well as new farmers, interested in selling or leasing land for agriculture.

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First 100 Days

Initiate and fund a Vision Zero program that sets forth a Vision Zero goal of eliminating deaths by 2030 and creates a Vision Zero Task Force which will create an Action Plan to get there. Include the concept of “boulevarding,” which is the reconstruction of freeways as boulevards and focus on narrowing lanes, creating safer crossings and slowing speeds. Utilize funds from the American Rescue Plan and include community outreach as part of the study and design process.

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First 100 Days

Propose regulations to implement the new law to inventory and replace lead service lines.

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First 100 Days

Utilize the “Sea Level Rise Guidance for New Jersey” document to incorporate sea level rise and flood elevation standards into all state-funded infrastructure projects and other investment decisions.

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First 100 Days

Propose NJ PACT regulations that:

1. Protect headwater streams with more protective policies through the Freshwater Wetland and Flood Hazard Control Act rules to recognize and protect headwaters with riparian zones, by providing clear guidance on stream delineation methods consistent with current science, updating New Jersey’s National Hydrography Dataset to incorporate Lidar and predictive modeling consistent with best available science, removing the erosional channel definition, reducing the regulatory burden on educational trail development through broader permit by rules on pedestrian only trail building and bridge building, and eliminating permit by rules, permits by certification and general permit rules that do not demonstrate a de minimis impact on riparian zones.
2. Integrate surface water quality standards, water impairments, and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) (including approved Waste Load Allocations) into the land use, water quality management, stormwater and discharge permitting process
3. Ensure regulations encourage the use of living shorelines and other natural systems along all coasts to address resilience and water quality issues
4. Include an onsite retention standard for stormwater, including application to redevelopment projects in a way that allows them to move forward in a resilient way
5. Incorporate climate change projection data and requirement for resilience planning, including for inland waters, and use the state’s regulatory and financing authorities to direct development away from high hazard areas identified through such projection data.
6. Redefine the tidal and fluvial flood hazard areas with higher standards regarding planning for and addressing climate change and create “Inundation Risk Zones” with enough flexibility to avoid exacerbating the financial and social hardships faced by environmental justice communities
7. Address systematic racism and classicism by proposing regulations and written policies that ensure equitable and just outcomes for people of color and/or with lower incomes
8. Strengthen existing regulations to eliminate the presumption that horizontal directional drilling (HDD) is a no-impact construction technique. Require individual permits and detailed geo-technical analyses for HDD installations and require that applicants avoid sensitive natural resources rather than assuming that HDD will prevent impacts to these resources.

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First Year

Adopt a “One Water” approach (as promoted by the US Water Alliance), whereby water is managed in an integrated, inclusive and sustainable manner. Specifically, link groundwater regulations with surface water regulations and empower the Internal Standards Consistency team to implement.

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First Year

Fund partnership of community colleges and water utilities to create a pilot program to replenish the water workforce and create pathways to job and career opportunities for local residents through training and apprenticeship programs, modeled after the NJ Offshore Wind Institute.

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First Year

Propose and adopt a new Lead and Copper Rule that protects public health through improved water sampling, quick public notification, proactive requirements for lead mitigation, corrosion control, and public education.

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First Year

Ensure safe drinking water in child care centers by running an education campaign that informs parents and staff of the danger of lead in drinking water. The campaign should include a statewide map of test results, practical action steps and useful resources that prompt them to act.

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First Year

Direct $100 million in already approved bond proceeds to school districts with the most lead poisoning.

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First Year

Adopt NJ PACT rules.

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First Year

Amend Stormwater regulations to require volume, as well as peak rate, reductions and application of water quality standard to all types of impervious surfaces, including roofs and sidewalks.

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First Year

Encourage the transportation sector to use green infrastructure as a way to manage road runoff by amending New Jersey’s Complete Streets policy to include green streets and provide technical assistance and incentives for communities to apply for New Jersey DOT local aid funds to implement green streets.

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First Year

Request that the Environmental Protection Agency designate the Raritan Bay as a “No Discharge Zone” to prevent vessels from discharging sewage into the water.

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First 100 Days

Issue the next five-year Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) permits with the following provisions:

1. Require permit holders to implement green infrastructure projects within five years, including looking at innovative projects at school yards
2. Provide climate change data and projections for use in the selection, implementation, and evaluation of CSO projects
3. Identify and prioritize environmental justice neighborhoods for CSO mitigation
4. Require the permit holders to continue public outreach on the projects that have been selected in the Long Term Control Plans
5. Ensure equitable financing of Long Term Control Plans, whereby costs are shared between sewage treatment utilities and municipalities to reduce impacts on ratepayers

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First Year

Propose regulations to define reporting requirements for the Water Quality Accountability Act and make reports publicly available.

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First Term

Designate all beaches along the Raritan Bayshore as bathing beaches and perform regular, protective water quality testing to provide timely notification of water quality that creates health risks.

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First 100 Days

Pilot a Community Design Advocates program that pays community leaders in overburdened communities to coordinate input from community members and ensure inclusion into the design and development of redevelopment projects.

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First 100 Days

Conduct local air quality monitoring research along roadways and along facility fence lines, in conjunction with increased ambient air quality monitoring, to quantify any changes to air pollution emissions levels (NOx and SOx) and ensure emissions reductions environmental justice communities.

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First 100 Days

Move forward with the next steps as outlined in the New Jersey Climate Change Resilience Strategy, including:
1. Developing a work plan for the Interagency Council on Climate Resilience, including issue-specific working groups
2. Coordinating the work of the Interagency Council on Climate Resilience with the Environmental Justice Interagency Council
3. Developing state agency climate change action plans
4. Scheduling meetings with local government officials groups
5. Conducting broad outreach and engagement with stakeholders and the public

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First 100 Days

Pursue Medicaid reimbursement for lead abatement services.

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First 100 Days

Complete implementation regulations for the recently passed and signed “Lead-Safe Certificate” legislation.

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First 100 Days

Designate American Rescue Plan funds for workforce development in lead-safe and energy efficiency sectors.

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First 100 Days

Support New Jersey representation on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advisory committee on urban agriculture, part of a broader effort to focus on the needs of urban farmers.

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First 100 Days

Announce implementation of the September 2019 DEP’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council (EJAC) report titled Urban Agriculture in the Garden State. The work of several “urban agriculture practitioners,” the white paper “addresses factors that may impact the development of urban agriculture within the State of New Jersey, perceived barriers and recommendations for addressing each barrier.”

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First 100 Days

Direct BPU to create a building electrification roadmap that ensures new residential and commercial buildings are 100% electric by 2030. Hold a robust stakeholder process to prioritize investments in affordable and multi-family housing projects.

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First 100 Days

Set Administrative target to achieve high levels of energy efficiency, healthy homes, and building electrification for 80% of existing housing stock that serves low-income households by 2030, and 50% of all residents within the state. Reform BPU’s Clean Energy Program to target conversion of building heating from fossil fuels to electricity, prioritizing the conversion of heating oil and propane customers.

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First 100 Days

Create awareness through state-sponsored programs to developers, contractors, retailers, health care providers and directly to families about the health risks of cooking with gas stoves including that cooking with gas is associated with childhood asthma and that people with gas cooking stoves can reduce pollution by reducing use, ventilating and switching to electric stoves.

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First 100 Days

Require installation of outdoor-vented electric cooking stoves for new, low-income housing funded by the State.

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First 100 Days

Unify all low-income energy efficiency programs in the state into a single source for energy efficiency and initiative action to remove all documentation requirements, except proof of ownership and identity, and eliminate the need for social security cards, W2s and other such documents. Use low-income census tracts or defined environmental justice communities for choosing homes and neighborhoods to weatherize, and review and standardize income tests for all energy-efficiency programs.

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First Year

Provide economic development and land use planning financial assistance to municipalities that want to improve an existing downtown.

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First Year

Prioritize infrastructure funding in older population centers that are planning to accommodate additional growth, with a focus on overburdened communities.

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First Year

Focus on pedestrian accessibility at transit stations, through expanding Safe Streets to Transit program and local aid to support planning and funding of Complete Streets projects.

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First Year

Direct the NJ Redevelopment Authority to coordinate and manage a public/private working group to create a redevelopment inclusion toolkit for municipalities that can be used in both gentrifying communities and already wealthy exclusionary communities. Elements of the toolkit should include:

1. Removing a percentage of housing units from the market and making them permanently affordable to lower income residents
2. Instituting an inclusionary housing ordinance that results in a percentage of all new residential units being permanently affordable to lower income residents
3. Reducing the cost structure of a percentage of commercial and retail spaces to ensure that small “mom-and-pop” and start-up businesses can exist
4. Developing public space guidelines to ensure all people have access to appropriate public spaces and facilities

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First Year

Require Community Benefits Agreements in all state funded projects that exceed $10 million and expand the traditional scope of these agreements to include physical and quality of life benefits and ensure that community members are party to the agreements.

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First Year

Quickly move forward with implementation of new law (P.L.2021, c.182) that requires landlords to obtain lead-safe certificates before units are rented.

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First Year

Require that Section 8 rent-subsidized units be inspected for lead hazards prior to occupancy.

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First Year

Streamline application process for housing improvement by allowing applicants to be approved based on home address within a state approved geographic designation.

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First Year

Train community health workers and designated home visitors for newborns who work with families in the principles of healthy, lead-free homes. Require health workers to conduct a healthy homes assessment in client homes and make referrals to lead services as needed.

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First Year

Improve New Jersey’s Annual Lead Surveillance Report by continuing to enhance new online mapping tool that helps residents identify lead exposure risks in housing by adding lead exposure from other sources, such as leaded gasoline or pesticide-contaminated soil, and maps of Elevated Blood Lead levels per jurisdiction at the smallest geographic unit possible to protect privacy of affected children and families.

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First Year

Identify state funding to help local school districts in environmental justice communities pay for “green” schoolyards, which can increase green space in neighborhoods and incorporate green infrastructure to help address climate resilience. Include assisting schools with tapping into federal funding.

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First Year

Set timetable for Whole House program review and begin expansion, which will deliver integrated lead (paint, water and soil), health, safety and weatherization improvements for homes in New Jersey’s most vulnerable communities. Include inspections to review potential exposures to household air pollution generated by cooking with gas and other options for funding to address any structural issues with homes that often defer weatherization or energy efficiency steps.

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First Year

Offer no-cost or subsidized options for programs retrofitting low-income housing to switch to electric stoves which should include funding for electric panel upgrades, installation of outlets for electric stoves and shutting off gas lines.

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First Term

Support the implementation of form-based codes which regulate the height and bulk of buildings, but not their use to allow residential and non-polluting commercial uses to locate in the same neighborhood (e.g., the corner store). Ensure that mixed-use residential and commercial redevelopment is incentivized at agency level.

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First Term

Convene stakeholders to develop a proposal to increase diversity of housing choices in walkable towns, including learning from other states that have made it easier to develop accessory dwelling units and two-family and above homes.

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First Term

Minimize investment in new road miles, especially in low-density areas, and direct those scarce resources to redevelopment areas where the most people would benefit (i.e., “Fix it First”).

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First Term

Provide leadership at the state agency level on the concept of “boulevarding” (reconstructing roadways to provide access while slowing down traffic) by creating templates and pursuing pilot projects for boulevarding redevelopment plans. This should emphasize centering local community businesses, minority- and women-owned enterprises, and community amenities in future plans.

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First Term

Allocate resources to support proactive housing inspections of 5 percent of housing in high-risk areas of lead exposure.

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First 100 Days

Through Executive Order, BPU and DEP should revise reviews of proposed fossil fuel projects to consider consistency with the Global Warming Response Act, Environmental Justice law, Energy Master Plan and gas capacity planning to prevent costly, unneeded projects that are inconsistent with New Jersey’s climate, environmental justice, and clean energy goals.

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First 100 Days

Make the decision-making processes for gas utility activities more transparent and accessible to all stakeholders. These processes should include detailed evaluation of the impact of potential actions on environmental justice communities, as well as the environmental and energy justice implications of any approvals.

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First 100 Days

Support local initiatives to conduct community air quality monitoring, including through a “citizen science” approach and to monitor mobile and industry emissions.

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First Year

As the pilot Community Solar Program transitions into a permanent program, continue to maintain at least half of community solar generation serving low-income households.

1. Increase education resources for community outreach, especially in LMI communities.
2. Improve program design to overcome barriers to enrollment, including adopting easier methods for verifying one’s status as an LMI customer, such as geographic qualifications by census tract or self-attestation or opt-out options.
3. Ensure the BPU and Electric Distribution Companies work together to create Utility Consolidated Billing that provides community solar customers with a single bill that contains traditional utility costs as well as the subscription and bill credit associated with community solar projects.

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First Year

Disallow the qualification of garbage incinerators under the Renewable Portfolio law and work with impacted communities to respond to proposals for pilots or other initiatives related to incineration or “chemical recycling.”

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First 100 Days

Update and formally adopt NJ DOT’s 2009 Complete Streets Policy to include all the benefits derived from strategic road design using 2019 Complete and Green Streets Model Policy with a targeted focus on priority communities and users as defined by model policy.

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First 100 Days

Adopt the proposed Advanced Clean Truck rule.

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First Year

Implement alternative roadway uses through policy and capital planning to eliminate the perceived need for additional lanes: identify shuttle and HOV lanes, electric vehicle access and amenities, bicycle/pedestrian paths along highways and bridges.

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First Year

Pursue option for microtransit options for rural and suburban populations underserved by existing transit, including taking advantage of federal funding. In all areas, pursue micro-mobility solutions and shuttle between transit hubs that can improve access.

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First Year

Research how to include electric bicycle rebates as part of long-term incentives for electric vehicles at a state level.

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First Year

Institute a Bicycle Commuter Benefit for state employees, including metrics on adoption and ways to expand the program.

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First Year

Move forward with existing bus depot renovations and other capital projects to capitalize on federal funding opportunities over the next four years, with an emphasis on getting NJ Transit climate- and electrification-ready.

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First Year

Prioritize clean transportation investments in projects that benefit communities most harmed by pollution, with at least 50 - 75 percent of funding from any air pollution settlements, regional emissions reduction agreements, federal funding or similar sources targeted in New Jersey’s more than 300 overburdened communities. Include additional investments in electrifying public transportation like buses and last-mile options.

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First Year

Study rural transportation innovation options and improve overall connectivity through installing broadband internet access in all corners of the state.

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First Year

Incentivize local, high paying jobs in electrification industries such as advanced manufacturing that target residents of overburdened communities.

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First Term

Follow the fix-it-first mandate to keep existing infrastructure safe and reduce overall maintenance costs as structures continue to age as part of the capital planning process.

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First Term

Resolve New Jersey Administrative Code (NJAC) challenges to allow for bicycle-share advertising opportunities that would fund bicycle share programs.

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First Term

Design a holistic approach to bus route redesigns for the entire NJ Transit bus system, including community outreach, accounting for technology changes including electric buses, and connectivity with rail schedule, bike trails and pedestrian infrastructure.

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First Year

Educate industry on donation liability laws and create better food donation networks.

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First Term

Propose and adopt a tiered permitting systems for Class C recycling centers, to make acceptance of food waste more accessible.

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First Term

Investigate “built in obsolescence” as a manufacturing strategy that harms consumers.

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First Term

Ensure that the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) obtains and makes publically available critical information from the railroads that carry crude oil.

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First Term

Provide Local Emergency Planning Committees for New Jersey’s counties and municipalities to make up-to-date Emergency Response Plans accessible for public review, including posting online and ensure Plans are written to inform neighbors about what to do in case of an emergency.

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First 100 Days

Advance greater state-level interdepartmental coordination around climate change action, through:

1. Ensuring each department and regional planning agency prioritizes resilience and mitigation in their budgets and activities.
2. Ensuring agencies follow common climate impact standards, such as the published Sea-Level Rise Guidance for NJ.
3. Ensuring greater transparency and accountability of the existing Interagency Council on Climate Change (established through Executive Order No. 89) and Council of Climate Action and Green Economy (established through Executive Order No. 221) through publicly available meeting minutes, live streaming of meetings, and periodic public convenings of the Councils with time for public comment.
4. Provide sufficient allocation of funding and staff to support the functions of the Councils, development of targets for action and investment in environmental justice communities.

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First Year

Align all revenues across various State programs for climate change mitigation and adaptation and investment in the clean energy economy under a common strategy that includes an equity component and ensures that at least 40 percent of monies are dedicated to front-line and environmental justice communities.

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