Environmental Justice Council outlines petition steps as residents press for action

Caroline Lam, director and coordinator of the Office of Environmental Justice and Equity, explained the proposed petition process for designating EJ communities, telling the council that “the first step is to submit a petition signed by at least 10 residents of the geographic area.” The office plans an initial secretariat review, a public hearing intended to be accessible to affected residents, and a final decision published within 60 days of that hearing.

The steps matter, council members heard, because designation affects what evidence and community protections are considered. Eugene Benson, a legal expert who recounted the history of the state’s EJ criteria, described how the original 2002 definition used census tracts and thresholds for income, minority population and limited English proficiency. Commissioner Stacy Ruben said later policy work and an executive order have driven refinements and that a proposed regulation will be released for public review in coming weeks.

Community speakers urged speed and clarity. Marian Babinski of Westfield said residents had waited years for petition outcomes and asked that previously filed petitions be tracked and treated seriously. “It’s been a dead end for some communities; we want the process to work,” she said. Katherine Rodriguez, who described involvement in a recent local review of a concrete-plant expansion, said that project decisions had marginalized residents and that petition protections should guarantee meaningful involvement and notice.

Council members pressed staff on technical choices in the draft process. Members asked why public hearings are framed to serve communities within roughly a five-mile radius and whether census block groups — which can vary widely in population and geographic size — would be the default geographic unit for petitions. Lam said the procedure allows petitioners to submit cumulative-impact evidence and community-generated data, and staff will consider alternate geographies when they better reflect where impacted residents live.

The proposed petition workflow includes procedural guardrails intended to increase fairness: a minimum petition-signatory threshold (10 residents), an initial secretariat triage, a public hearing designed to ensure participation by impacted neighbors, and a time-limited secretariat determination intended to make outcomes publicly available and trackable. Staff told the council the Executive Office will release a draft regulation for public comment, at which time the council and public can submit formal feedback.

Next steps: staff said they will circulate the draft regulation for review and will publish more details on timing and outreach. Public commenters and council members asked staff to ensure clear tracking for petitions already filed and strong language on outreach and language access when the draft is released.