This commentary is by Neva Cote, a senior at the University of Vermont studying public health science.
As we progress toward creating and upgrading infrastructure to follow stricter environmental standards, we also have an opportunity to prevent environmental injustices. To act on this, Vermont should undergo permitting reform that requires builders who want to build or amend infrastructure in the state to include environmental justice analysis in their permit applications.
If harmful or unnecessary environmental justice impacts are identified, permits to build would be denied.
The Vermont REJOICE project investigates rural environmental justice opportunities by engaging in conversation with Vermonters who face issues of environmental injustice. Through the citizens’ testimony, we can see that existing infrastructure in Vermont causes disproportionate harm to already vulnerable communities.
Those with chronic illnesses and brain injuries report worsened health caused by odors and dust from construction near their homes. Spanish-speaking farmworkers and New Americans are concerned about new development causing their children to lose access to outdoor recreation spaces and about adequate sanitation and bathroom facilities in their housing. And residents of the Northeast Kingdom are concerned about the impacts of leachate from the state’s only landfill in Coventry on water quality, among other concerns.
Additionally, research from the Rubenstein School at UVM used census data to map the cumulative impact of environmental risk, social vulnerability, and health risk in Vermont. They found that areas with more racial diversity and limited English proficiency residents were associated with more environmental hazards, while areas with the least racial diversity and limited English proficiency residents had fewer environmental risks.
Clearly, Vermont’s non-white population is unfairly burdened with far higher environmental risk levels. Though we do need to address these environmental injustices caused by our existing infrastructure, another important step to begin to resolve this issue is to require consideration of environmental justice implications when proposing new changes to Vermont’s infrastructure.
New Jersey was recently the first state in the nation to pass legislation on environmental justice-based permitting reform, requiring mandatory permit denials if an environmental justice analysis determined that new or changing infrastructure would have a disproportionately negative impact on already vulnerable communities.
New Jersey has demonstrated that permit reforms can be passed, which gives Vermont a framework from which we can form our own legislation. Vermont should join New Jersey in setting an example for more state and national efforts on this front.
Though many agree that environmental justice is an important issue, it’s important to consider that more requirements in the permitting process could slow the process down. Given the housing crisis in parts of Vermont (particularly in the Burlington area), as well as the fact that cleaner infrastructure needs to be implemented quickly to address the pressing climate crisis, permitting reforms that slow down new development could be seen as a hindrance to addressing these goals.
However, it’s extremely important that we develop our infrastructure in a way that addresses, rather than deepens, inequalities. Further, the changes we need to make in our infrastructure to address climate change and the housing crisis can work harmoniously with a requirement of environmental justice.
For example, by designing energy-efficient buildings, we can reduce environmental impact, which will ultimately lower the disproportionate harm faced by underprivileged groups. And environmental justice permitting reform would help better address the Burlington housing crisis by prioritizing safety and affordability for people of all income levels when expanding housing.
Moving forward, striking a balance in the permitting process is key — we need to improve the efficiency of permitting clean energy infrastructure, but that should not be done at the expense of considering environmental justice impacts.
Ultimately, environmental justice-based permitting reform should be a national effort, as we need to improve the way that large-scale, multistate infrastructure addresses environmental injustices. We also need to act as quickly as possible, and that means that every piece of legislation we can pass on this issue is important.
Vermont legislators can make a significant difference by passing legislation to positively influence infrastructure changes in our own state, as we can lead by example for other states to do so as well.
