New Jersey’s small size has not meant less impact to its communities from pollution and climate change, but short travel distances have made it easier for Shawn M. LaTourette to see the effects up close and pursue a mission to prevent further harm and still boost the state economy.

As NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner, he has presided over a daunting process still underway to develop and implement New Jersey’s pioneering environmental justice law, enacted in 2020, and leads work on related priorities on which the state is at the forefront nationally—from making offshore wind a clean energy reality and phasing in cleaner trucks to boosting removal of lead-lined water system pipes and regulating harmful PFAS chemicals.

To implement the environmental justice law, intended to reduce further risk to “overburdened” communities, stakeholders now await regulatory details on how or whether certain pollution-emitting facilities such as power plants and waste incinerators can be built or expanded.

New Jersey initially noted 310 communities that could fall under the standard.

The law, for the first time in the U.S., enables regulators to consider cumulative pollution and climate change impacts to a community and to deny or alter a facility permit based on that assessment.

越来越多的州正在推动环境司法的努力，但到目前为止，新泽西州的执法水平都没有。

LaTourette has reached out to both community and business advocates to gain input in crafting the permit rules, earning kudos for his even-handed approach. “This law is not about beating anyone over the head, it’s about doing better,” says the DEP chief, an attorney who before joining the state environmental agency in 2018 as a policy advisor had worked with both communities and business on environmental legal and compliance issues.

Rising up the agency's ranks since, he also has been central to developing its new energy master plan and in launching a program in December to phase out diesel trucks in the state by 2035, the first state east of the Mississippi River to do so. Transportation generates 40% of the state's greenhouse gases, with medium and heavy-duty trucks making up 25% of that.

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy tapped him last April to permanently fill DEP’s top role.

纽瓦克的激进主义者玛丽亚·洛佩兹·纳努兹（Maria Lopez-Nuñez）对环境正义进程印象深刻，其中包括在这样的早期阶段的广泛投入。她说：“我很想将其视为公众参与的模型。”“这将是对社区正在等待的真正考验。”

社区访问者

新泽西州商业与行业协会副总裁雷·坎托（Ray Cantor）表示，该小组“乐观地说，DEP会听取我们的关注……并为所有人采用可行的系统。”

他说，拉特雷特（Latourette）让“所有这些非常有兴趣的人都称赞这一过程”。“他们都会很激动吗？不……我们很少会让每个人都开心。”

环保机构预计将在3月31日之前正式提出司法规则，目的是在2022年底采用。但不等待，Latourette于去年9月发布了一项命令，以扩大对负担过重的社区项目的公开评论，并在需要时申请许可条件。新利18备用网址

1月13日，墨菲干预了Passaic Valley污水处理委员会的计划投票，批准了一份1.8亿美元的合同，以开始在纽瓦克建造84兆瓦的备用天然气发电厂，以支持大型废水公用事业在紧急情况下的运营。例如2012年超级风暴桑迪期间发生的72小时功率损失。

The utility said the backup plant, part of its estimated $600-million post-hurrcane resilience program, would not operate daily, but residents have been strongly opposed to what they say would be the fourth power plant built in the city.

该委员会表示，它打算建造备用工厂，理由是如果发生电力损失，未经处理的废水风险，但也正在探索可再生燃料的整合，并“以现实且对环境负责的方式前进”。目前尚不清楚该项目何时会重新考虑。

拉图莱特（Latourette）对一些激进分子的言论不支持新泽西州的化石燃料暂停措施，这使一些激进分子感到沮丧，并在最近的一次活动中指出，“我们需要以碳为基础的燃料来为我们的经济提供动力。”他还明确表示，环境正义法和环境正义法和由于建筑和其他商业利益担心，其他行动不会阻止该州更多的投资。

他说，“环境改善与经济发展之间存在团结。我们只需要让自己看到它。”