DEEP outlines environmental-justice mapping, new cumulative-impact assessment rules and required community benefit agreements

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) described current and forthcoming environmental-justice (EJ) work, including an EJ communities mapping tool, an EJ screening tool and proposed cumulative-impact assessment regulations that DEEP staff said will set standards for permit conditions and denials.

Edith Pastana, who identified herself as a DEEP Office of Equity and Environmental Justice official and a former Department of Public Health epidemiologist, reviewed the state’s EJ statute and tools. Pastana said “Public act 8 94 was codified in 02/2009” and that the law was the first in the state to define EJ communities, specify public-participation expectations and allow for community environmental benefit agreements. She said DEEP’s online EJ mapping tool overlays affecting facilities (air, water, waste, wastewater) with socioeconomic and health indicators.

Pastana described how environmental-justice communities are identified in two ways: census block groups where 30% or more of residents are low-income (below 200% of the federal poverty level) and state-designated “distressed municipalities” produced each year by the Department of Economic and Community Development. She also listed categories DEEP treats as “affecting facilities,” including electric generating facilities, incinerators, large sewage-treatment plants, intermediate processing centers and major air-pollution sources.

Under current implementation, Pastana said that where a proposed facility would be sited in a town with five or more affecting facilities, the developer is required to negotiate a community environmental benefit agreement and submit it to DEEP; DEEP will not act on the permit until that agreement is filed. Pastana said DEEP is developing cumulative-impact assessment regulations that will identify indicators, measurement approaches, geographic comparison points, standards for permit conditions or denials, and public-participation requirements. The regulations are in development with an outside contractor and DEEP staff said they had convened multiple stakeholder meetings and public listening sessions.

Pastana said DEEP’s EJ screening tool already incorporates roughly 50 indicators including pollution sources, housing stock, education, health sensitivity (for example, low birth weight, diabetes and coronary disease) and socioeconomic measures; the darkest areas on the state map track historic redlining patterns and major transportation corridors, she noted.

DEEP staff urged stakeholders to participate in ongoing rulemaking and surveys and said the next rulemaking meeting would address geographic points of comparison. Pastana encouraged coalition members to attend related meetings, including the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council hybrid meeting scheduled for June 26; DEEP staff also said they will continue public outreach events in cities such as Bridgeport.

DEEP’s presentation prompted questions from coalition participants about the scope of the mapping indicators, public-participation methods, and the agency’s ability to place conditions on or deny permits. Pastana said the intent of the regulation is to provide a clear, data-driven framework so DEEP staff can evaluate cumulative impacts comprehensively rather than addressing permits only on a facility-by-facility basis.

DEEP also signaled continuing collaboration with public-health partners: Pastana noted participation from Yale and DPH staff on the rulemaking team and said DEEP is seeking additional input on indicator selection and public outreach methods.