Key Contacts
Interim Final Environmental Justice Policy Prioritizes Community Engagement, Compliance
On Sept. 16, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will be adopting an interim final environmental justice policy (EJ policy), outlining the measures the PADEP will take to integrate environmental justice into its permitting and enforcement efforts. The EJ policy is a long-anticipated update to the PADEP’s environmental justice public participation policy, which was adopted in 2004. This article provides an overview of the areas and projects subject to the EJ policy, the enhanced public participation and prioritized compliance and enforcement efforts that will be applied to projects subject to the policy and describes what the regulated community can expect and do to incorporate the policy into project planning and operations.