Proposed Environmental Policy May Hinder Development in Urban Areas

WORCESTER, MA-The Office of Environmental Affairs released a draft policy last December on the need to address environmental justice issues in certain areas of the state and listed a number of standards that would enable a city to be designated an environmental justice community. The standards would apply if at least 15% of the community is low income, minority or not of American origin.

“The need for environmental justice has been most widely recognized in communities of color and in low-income communities,” notes the MEOE draft of the proposals. “Nationally, these two sectors of society have borne the largest burden of environmental degradation and have received the fewest environmental benefits. This policy builds on the national environmental justice framework by compiling a set of indicators that may help further identify communities at risk.”

Once a community meets those standards, it can be subjected to heightened environmental monitoring. “It sets up an additional standard of use,” Paul Matthews, spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce here, tells GlobeSt.com. “The communities that fall under these standards, which are mostly urban areas, would be subject to more regulations than suburban areas.” Also, under the new policy, any 10 taxpayers could petition the state to receive the designation if they felt a development was coming in that was not “just.”