New Jersey's top court will review environmental justice permit rules, which remain in force meanwhile
The appeal tests how the rules reach facilities next to overburdened communities and which operations count as new facilities that can be denied permits.
By orders filed July 14, 2026, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted petitions for certification filed by industry and labor groups challenging the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (“NJDEP”) Environmental Justice Rules, N.J.A.C. 7:1C, effective April 17, 2023 (55 N.J.R. 661(b)). The petitioners are the New Jersey Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and the Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825. The case, docketed as A-58/59-25, comes to the Court after the Appellate Division affirmed the rules in a published opinion on January 5, 2026 (Nos. A-2936-22 and A-2959-22). The rules remain in effect while the appeal is pending, so applications filed in the interim must comply with them.
N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157 et seq.; N.J.A.C. 7:1C; 55 N.J.R. 661(b); Sup. Ct. A-58/59-25