New Jersey Supreme Court agrees to review the state's environmental justice permit rules
The Court granted review in July 2026 of the rules that can require denial of permits for new facilities in overburdened communities. The Appellate Division upheld them on January 5, 2026. No stay of the rules was reported; the questions include facilities next to such communities and what counts as a new facility.
On January 5, 2026, in consolidated appeals docketed A-2936-22 and A-2959-22 and reported at 483 N.J. Super. 308 (App. Div. 2026), a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, unanimously affirmed the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's environmental justice rules, N.J.A.C. 7:1C, which implement the Environmental Justice Law, N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157 to -161. The appellants were 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. In July 2026 the New Jersey Supreme Court granted review, according to reports by a law firm (Riker Danzig) and by Bloomberg Law; no stay of the rules was reported in the sources read, so the rules are presented here as continuing to apply.
483 N.J. Super. 308 (App. Div. 2026) (A-2936-22, A-2959-22), review granted July 2026; N.J.A.C. 7:1C-1.1 to -10.3; N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157 to -161