Press Release  AG Campbell Files Legislation To Create Justice Trust To Fund Projects That Address Environmental Injustices

BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, along with Representative Brandy Fluker Oakley (D-Mattapan) and Senator Adam Gomez (D-Springfield), have filed legislation to create an Environmental Justice Trust that would fund environmental projects and initiatives in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms HD.4585/SD.2767. An Act establishing the Environmental Justice Trust Fund, was filed by Campbell, Fluker Oakley and Gomez earlier today.  

“For far too long disadvantaged communities across the Commonwealth have suffered many, cumulative environmental harms,” said AG Campbell. “The Environmental Justice Trust Fund would give my office an important tool in the fight for environmental justice by providing those communities with resources and ensure we are centering equity in all our work.  I want to thank Rep. Fluker Oakley and Sen. Gomez for their leadership on this issue and their partnership in filing this bill.”  

“I am proud to file this important legislation along with Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. It is imperative that we address the disproportionate impact environmental harms continue to have on communities like mine,” said Representative Fluker Oakley. “The Environmental Justice Trust fund is an important step towards protecting our most vulnerable neighbors by ensuring we have the resources available to tackle this issue.” 

"I am proud to join Attorney General Campbell today in filing this important piece of legislation, establishing a trust fund in Massachusetts for the purpose of addressing the impact that environmental pollution has historically had on our disadvantaged communities,” said Senator Gomez. “This bill will directly impact the flow of funds to these areas, enabling the start of projects that will offer an immediate boost to communal health and economic growth. Environmental security is a human right, and I look forward to working with the Attorney General and my colleagues in the legislature on advancing the bill this session." 

An Act establishing the Environmental Justice Trust Fund proposes the creation of a trust that would be administered by the AG’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to provide much-needed resources directly to disadvantaged communities across Massachusetts.  Working with community-led organizations, EPD would use the fund to support environmental restoration and other projects to benefit community well-being—projects like air monitoring networks, asthma prevention programs, roof top and community gardens, and depaving heat-absorbing black top–to empower communities to manage environmental harms and improve environmental conditions that affect people’s daily lives.  The Trust would be funded by payments, including penalties and fines, from settlements and judgments filed by EPD in state court. 

Currently, the Attorney General’s Office does not have the ability to provide EPD penalties to those disadvantaged communities directly impacted by the violations of the state environmental laws EPD enforces.  The Environmental Justice Trust Fund would provide a mechanism for some of the settlement  and judgment money to be used to benefit communities disproportionately impacted by economic, health, and environmental burdens.

Everyone has a right to be protected from environmental hazards and to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment, but disadvantaged communities continue to bear an inequitable burden of cumulative climate and other environmental harms. For example, nationwide, such communities are at higher risk of adverse health impacts because they are more likely to live in risk-prone areas like urban heat islands, resource isolated rural areas, or coastal and other flood-prone areas, as well as areas with older or poorly maintained infrastructure, or areas with higher levels of air pollution. These effects can lead to further compounding issues like food insecurity, infectious diseases, and psychological stressors. 

In Massachusetts, which already has one of the nation’s highest incidences of pediatric asthma, degraded air quality is expected to disproportionately affect already disadvantaged communities, who are more susceptible to incidences of childhood asthma and elder mortality.  Heavy rains and flooding are expected to increase mold, overburden sewer systems, and cause contamination of private and public water supplies.  And droughts will deplete water supplies, with disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged communities across Massachusetts. The Environmental Justice Trust Fund will give the Attorney General’s Office, in partnership with community organizations, the ability to address these environmental harms in disadvantaged communities in Massachusetts. 

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