(The Center Square) – Despite the subject being in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, Pennsylvania has doubled down on its environmental justice efforts with a final policy launched Saturday.
The policy will guide the Department of Environmental Protection in projects relating to environmental justice, a concept rooted in principals of diversity, equity and inclusion.
The new policy concerns “the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, wealth, race, color, national origin, area of residence, Tribal affiliation, or disability” protecting them from risks that have been frequently dismissed by the Trump administration, including “disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects… related to climate change, the cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers.”
By contrast, an April 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump directs the attorney general to “prioritize the identification of any such State laws purporting to address ‘climate change’ or involving ‘environmental, social, and governance’ initiatives, ‘environmental justice,’ carbon or ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.”
The order intends to reexamine taxpayer funding of the programs as part of a wider cost-saving government initiative that’s been a priority of the administration since Trump took office.
Pennsylvania’s new policy builds on work already being done by the DEP through a policy enacted more than two decades ago. An interim policy was established in 2023 before the door was opened for public comment. Consideration of that feedback, the department says, has gone into the final policy.
“Vulnerable communities exist in every region of the Commonwealth — rural and urban alike,” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. “This updated policy builds on DEP’s commitment to proactively educate, engage, and empower Pennsylvanians living in EJ areas.”
The DEP says that the new policy will encourage continued community participation and education about projects that might impact them. Many communities in environmental justice zones find themselves in a catch-22, with industry providing both an economic backbone and an existential threat.
The City of Chester and Washington County on opposite ends of the state are both full of advocates who say they, their families, and their neighbors are made sick by factories, treatment plants, and fracking. Both show deep blue swaths of high pollution on the state’s PennEnviroScreen tool used to track environmental justice zones.
Affecting development plans can be a challenge in the commonwealth where local governments have considerable control and variable processes. The Shapiro administration has touted a “lightning plan” intended to streamline permitting for the development of projects like power plants and clearing local red tape. Critics have worried about ceding local control to the state.
A statement from the department said the new policy “helps to improve environmental safeguards for communities without extending beyond existing statute or regulation by empowering Pennsylvanians to learn more about specific projects and the environmental factors impacting their communities, and help those seeking a permit to better understand community concerns.”
