The environmental justice tightrope

Environmental justice (EJ) aims to give a voice to all people, regardless of race, national origin or income, with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental regulations. EJ helps individuals who live in under-represented communities effectively oppose the development of facilities and sites that could degrade their health and welfare.

As state lawmakers continue discussing proposed EJ bills, they ought to consider the waste and recycling industry’s perspective in addition to the individuals living in EJ communities. Some of the businesses located in EJ communities can offer tangible benefits to the people EJ laws seek to protect.

One such proposed law is Rhode Island’s Environmental Justice Act (H.B. 6196), which was introduced in late March. The bill would create “environmental justice focus areas” where state agencies would have more discretion in permitting. Those areas are defined by socioeconomic factors, such as minority population and median household income levels. As proposed, the law would grant state agencies permitting discretion over scrap metal facilities, landfills, asphalt plants, construction and demolition (C&D) processing facilities and other types of businesses.

When speaking at the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources March 30 hearing on the proposed law, Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Chief Policy Officer Danielle Waterfield expressed concern that recycling facilities are specifically targeted in the Rhode Island bill.

While recycling and C&D operations can give rise to environmental concerns related to emissions, some weight should be given to the environmental benefits recycling facilities offer society. Waterfield’s concern that H.B. 6196 could “stunt innovation” is valid. It’s possible the state could fall behind in educating its populace and maximizing recycling rates.

Developing an EJ law that balances the need to give voice to minority and poor neighborhoods while also considering business concerns is a tightrope walk. While EJ laws can benefit residents’ health, they also can be financially detrimental to the people they seek to protect if recycling and waste hauling rates increase because of a possible dearth of facilities able to accept materials locally.

Another component of H.B. 6196 is that it factors in the cumulative effect of industrial facilities in a given area. While this clause could be a bitter pill for businesses to digest, it addresses the very heart of EJ concerns. A single facility in a neighborhood could be a nuisance, but several heavy industrial facilities, including recycling businesses, in a concentrated area could present health hazards.

As EJ laws develop, business owners must hone their community relations efforts, working with local and state legislators and neighborhood leaders, to give themselves the best shot at getting facilities built and expanded where they want them.