State panel previews draft environmental‑justice petition process; residents urge priority review for prior petitions

The Environmental Justice Council on May 20 reviewed a draft petition process that would let neighborhood residents ask the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to designate their area as an environmental‑justice (EJ) population.

Caroline Lemoine, deputy director of Environmental Justice, said the proposed procedure would begin when at least 10 residents from a geographic area submit a petition. "The Secretary has 45 days to review whether the petition meets the threshold to proceed," she said, adding that the council would hold a public hearing within five miles of the area and that the Secretary would issue a final determination within 60 days of the hearing. Petitioners who are denied may submit again after one year, Lemoine said.

Members and advocates discussed how the petition process would treat areas that do not neatly align with census block groups. Commissioner Staci Rubin and others explained that the 2021 statute added a "race‑plus‑income" criterion and gave the EEA Secretary the authority to designate portions of block groups, a change intended to capture narrowly defined communities that broader census units miss.

Residents who spoke during public comment urged the council to prioritize earlier petitions that have been waiting for adjudication. Mary Ann Babinski of Westfield said she and others had submitted a petition in February 2025 and that communities "have waited several years, and over a year since they submitted the required petition, to have their EJ status reinstated." She asked how petitions filed before the rules are finalized would be treated.

Cathy Rodriguez of Taunton described a March zoning board hearing over a concrete plant expansion where, she said, officials "totally ignored" residents and provided "zero" language access for people whose first language is not English. Rodriguez asked Secretary Tupper to review local permitting procedures and language access requirements in Taunton.

Council members pressed for flexibility in what evidence petitioners can submit. Lemoine said supporting documentation on cumulative impacts, including MassEnviroScreen scores and community science, could be part of petitions and that staff are "open" to considering multiple sources of information. Members proposed allowing lived experience and local data to supplement federal census metrics, and discussed whether the five‑mile hearing radius is appropriate for widely varying population densities across the state.

Several speakers raised technical limits of census block groups, noting block groups vary in physical size though they generally target a similar population range. "If the block group is not a good representation, then that should be something to be thinking about," Dr. Marcos Luna (council GIS expert) said.

EEA staff said draft regulations for the petition process will be released for public comment and that the council will have another opportunity to review and recommend changes before the rules are finalized.

The council took no final vote on the petition regulations at this meeting. Undersecretary María Belén Power said staff will return with revised regulations and noted the council will review them once they are published for comment.