The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently released its first Environmental Justice (EJ) Action Plan, an agency self-assessment intended to serve as a roadmap for a more equitable and just set of services and initiatives to better serve overburdened communities across the state. DEP developed the plan in response to Executive Order 23, which required executive branch agencies to integrate EJ considerations into their policies and programs.
The report aims to ensure that EJ principles guide DEP policy, resource allocation, and engagement strategy. Actions were developed through direct solicitation from program staff, and were informed by testimonies from residents of overburdened communities and insights from DEP’s EJ Advisory Council. The goals and strategies developed were organized into five broad priorities:
- Engage people and communities;
- Ensure environmental quality;
- Invest in environmental improvements;
- Expand and improve equitable access to natural and historic resources; and
- Study, plan, and make policy.
DEP intends for this plan to be a living document that can evolve alongside community needs and agency goals, and hopes it can serve as a model for other agencies conducting similar self-assessments.
