What is the Environmental Justice (EJ) Policy?
The purpose of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Policy is to facilitate environmental justice in communities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to ensure equity and environmental justice in the administration of DEP’s duties.
Environmental Justice Policy
The Environmental Justice Policy includes several sections which guide the work of DEP which was adopted on January 3, 2026.
- Introduction: includes history and background.
- Definitions: describes key terms used in the policy to help clarify the document for the public, DEP staff, and the regulated communities.
- Environmental Justice Criteria: describes where the policy applies. This will be done through the PennEnviroScreen tool described in more context on our website’s PennEnviroScreen Page.
- Proactive Community Engagement: describes ways to increase proactive outreach and engagement across Pennsylvania and build long-lasting relationships with communities outside of individual projects.
- Enhanced Public Participation Process: describes the process provided for reviews associated with public participation Trigger or Opt-In Projects, including outreach activities and other support for EJ communities that is in addition to minimum requirements.
- Inspections, Compliance, and Enforcement: Describes how DEP can prioritize EJ within regulatory limits after permits are approved.
- Community Development and Investments: seeks to prioritize DEP resources and facilitate financial assistance to communities facing environmental justice issues.
- Climate Initiatives: clarifies ways that EJ can be integrated in the climate action plan and other climate change related efforts.
- Policy Updates: specifies the review and revision cycles for the policy to ensure data reliability and applicability.
Environmental Justice Projects
These project information spreadsheets below detail project permit applications that have been subject to the Environmental Justice Policy and have received Enhanced Public Participation as outlined in the EJ Policy:
What are…
Trigger Projects - These projects are those that have traditionally led to significant public concern due to potential impacts to the environment, human health, and communities and where DEP automatically conducts Enhanced Public Participation when the project creates an area of concern that touches an EJ Area.
Opt-In Projects - These projects do not automatically trigger the EJ Policy, but which DEP determines should be evaluated using the EJ policy based on identified community concerns, present or anticipated environmental impacts, or reasonably anticipated significant adverse community environmental burden.
Disposed Projects - When a permit application is no longer considered pending by DEP. This can happen when a permit is issued, denied, withdrawn by the applicant, or for several other reasons.
Enhanced Public Participation - Outreach activities and other support for EJ communities conducted by DEP regarding public participation that is in addition to minimum legal requirements. This can be related to municipal or public notice, public meetings, public hearings, the opportunity for comment, or other forms of community outreach.
Environmental Justice Policy Updates and Highlights
The update of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Policy from the 2004 Environmental Justice Public Participation Policy was done with extensive community input over a span of 8 years, as outlined here. Please reach out to the Office of Environmental Justice with any questions on the policy. Permit Permit applicants are also encouraged to utilize the Pre-Application Consultation Tool (PACT) process before submitting an application
EJ Policy Reference Documents
Currently Adopted EJ Policy (January 3, 2026 - Present)
The EJ Policy was adopted after a period of implementation during Interim-Final status, allowing DEP to create and refine internal processes and systems to ensure effective implementation. The final publication also included the release of the Comment-Response Document of the outreach conducted during the formal public comment period between September 16, 2023 and November 30, 2023.
Interim-Final EJ Policy (September 16, 2023 – January 2, 2026)
After extensive public comment described below, DEP adopted an interim final Environmental Justice Policy on September 16, 2023, which was in effect until the final publication on January 3, 2026. This enabled the DEP to implement the policy while it underwent public review. During the time that DEP operated under the Interim-Final EJ Policy, implementation improvements were incorporated. During this time, the DEP also updated the PennEnviroScreen tool with the latest data. The EJ Areas that were effective during the Interim-Final EJ Policy are labeled EJ Areas 2024 in the PennEnviroScreen tool.
The Interim-Final EJ Policy will be applied to projects that were submitted to DEP between September 16, 2023 and January 2, 2026, including grant programs that were advertised during that period. If you have any question on which EJ Policy your project is being considered under, don’t hesitate to contact the Office of Environmental Justice.
DEP held a public comment period on the revised policy from September 16, 2023 – November 30, 2023. During this public comment period, DEP held 3 virtual and 9 in-person public hearings to obtain input. The testimony from these hearings was added to the written comments collected on using DEP's online eComment tool.
To help publicize this comment period, DEP offered to attend local events, advisory committees, and other meetings at community request. DEP attended over 60 such meetings to help get the word out about the comment period. DEP also provided outreach materials to help spread the word.
DEP held a public comment period on the revised policy from April 12, 2022 – May 11, 2022. This formal public comment period built off of community input given in several ways described below. During this public comment period, DEP held 4 virtual public hearings to obtain input. The testimony from these hearings was added to the written comments collected using DEP's online eComment tool and included in the comment response document.
To help publicize this comment period, DEP offered to attend local events, advisory committees, and other meetings at community request. DEP attended over 20 such meetings to help get the word out about the comment period. DEP also provided outreach materials to help spread the word, as shown below.
DEP held a webinar on the draft Environmental Justice Policy on Monday, March 28 to raise awareness on the draft Policy and aid those interested in providing verbal or written testimony. A Spanish translated version of the webinar is available here.
The EJAB was presented with an EJ Policy Working Draft(opens in a new tab) of the August 19, 2021. To see information about that meeting, visit Meetings area of the EJAB page.
DEP hosted two (2) sessions to discuss revisions to the EJ Policy in March 2021 and gain stakeholder input before the drafting of the EJ Policy.
The Department started the process to develop an updated EJ Policy that continued to focus on public participation but also examined other Department practices and policies to see where EJ considerations could be included in Department operations. In starting this effort, the Department also reviewed the public comments from the 2018 public comment period as well as recommendations from the 2001 Environmental Justice Work Group Report to see where there were opportunities to include recommendations that had yet to be implemented and were still relevant. There was also a concerted effort to include internal and external stakeholders in the process during the drafting stage of the EJ Policy update to include expanded perspectives.
The Department conducted a process of revising the EJ Policy that was released for public comment in 2018. The Policy focused on enhancing public participation during permit reviews for specific trigger permits that warranted additional public input and engagement in specific geographic areas, known as EJ areas. The draft Policy included several revisions and updates but continued to focus solely on public engagement in the permit review process.
Comments received during the public comment period suggested that the Policy extend beyond enhancing public outreach and engagement during the permit review process. After reviewing all comments received, the Department decided in October 2020 to withdraw the draft 2018 EJ Public Participation Policy to develop a Policy that will focus public participation but also on integrating EJ into other Department practices and policies.
Environmental Justice Public Participation Policy (April 24, 2004 - September 15, 2023)
On April 24, 2004, DEP adopted the Environmental Justice Public Participation Policy as an official technical guidance document of DEP. Through the implementation of this Policy, residents in environmental justice communities were granted enhanced public participation opportunities during the department’s permitting process with certain major permit applications, in addition to the normal course of public involvement. The policy provides EJ communities the opportunity of an informational public meeting, a summary of the proposed application, increased outreach and access to information on permit applications, and the involvement of a regional coordinator to facilitate communication between the industry, DEP, and the community.
The recommendation of this policy was a partial implementation of the 2001 Environmental Justice Work Group Report.