A MAJOR WIN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
Governor Hochul Signed Our Landmark Environmental Justice Legislation, Ensuring Cumulative Impacts Are Considered In Permitting

Late last night, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed our Cumulative Impacts bill (S.8830/A.2103D) into law. This landmark legislation is a major win for environmental justice because it ensures that the cumulative impacts of all sources of pollution are taken into consideration in the State’s environmental permitting processes when potentially polluting facilities seek permits in disadvantaged communities. We have been aggressively advocating for this historic law since the beginning of the year. It makes New York the second state in the nation with such a law, following New Jersey’s groundbreaking legislation signed in 2020, which was advanced by the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and others.
 
What Are Cumulative Impacts?
Low-income communities and communities of color throughout New York State have historically been burdened by a disproportionate number of pollution-generating facilities such as factories, power plants, bus depots, sewage treatment plants, garbage dumps and transfer stations, and trucking centers. This inequitable siting has turned these communities into environmental sacrifice zones, with the cumulative impacts of these multiple sources of pollution exponentially harming their residents, causing health impacts such as asthma, lung and heart disease, increased birth defects, and learning impairments.
 
Existing laws and regulations did not take the cumulative impacts of pollution into account when approving such facilities, instead treating them as if they were the only source of pollution that residents will have to endure. This new law will play a significant role in addressing the environmental racism that has plagued the health and well-being of these communities for generations.

“We saw disadvantaged communities across the state suffer higher rates of illness and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, with studies linking the higher incidence of chronic diseases to the adverse health impacts of air pollution and other forms of pollution, which studies also link to the cumulative impacts of exposure in these communities,” said Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, who co-leads the Cumulative Impacts coalition and the JustGreen Partnership. “We need to stop treating these communities as dumping grounds for pollution and other hazards, and this law will protect these communities from additional burdens and prevent them from continuing to be environmental sacrifice zones.”
 
This legislation was championed by a partnership co-led by WE ACT for Environmental Justice and South Bronx Unite, along with the JustGreen Partnership, Earthjustice, Clean+Healthy, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Riverkeeper, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, NRDC, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Environmental Advocates NY, Moms for a Nontoxic New York, Bronx Climate Justice North, 350 Brooklyn/City Action, and other organizations.
 
“We thank Governor Hochul and our bill sponsors and champions, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, for their leadership in creating this landmark law to protect New York’s most polluted communities. And we thank our colleagues at South Bronx Unite and the other organizations and advocates who helped make this happen - including all of you who called the Governor yesterday to ask her to sign this bill,” added Jessel.

ANOTHER REASON TO CELEBRATE:
Governor Hochul Also Banned the Use of PFAS in Apparel

Governor Hochul signed another JustGreen Partnership bill into law last night. This one bans PFAS in Apparel, making New York and California the first two states to ban the toxic chemicals in clothing.
 
PFAS are a synthetic class of chemicals that don't break down naturally and build up in the environment and our bodies, which is why they are often called “forever chemicals.” They are present in waterways, soil, and the air, and enter our bodies when ingested, absorbed, or inhaled. These chemicals can cause or contribute to cancer, linked to testicular and kidney cancers, altered cholesterol levels, infertility, and learning challenges, among other health implications. This new law is the third in the state addressing toxic PFAS, with the ban on PFAS in fire fighting foam and food packaging signed under the previous administration – both of which were led by our JustGreen Partnership.
 
“Given the proliferation of PFAS, and the disproportionate exposure communities of color face with these forever chemicals, keeping it out of our clothing is critical,” explained Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Co-Chair of the JustGreen Partnership. “PFAS in clothing and other apparel can produce direct, long-term contact with our skin, which can dramatically increase exposure and the corresponding health impacts. We are grateful to Senator Brad Hoylman (D – 27th District) and Assemblymember Patricia Fahy (D – 109th District) for sponsoring this legislation, as well as to the JustGreen Partnership for their advocacy of it. And we thank Governor Kathy Hochul for signing it into law."