The City of Newark, N.J., enacted the first of its kind “Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance” that requires the city to take into account the impact of developments on residents’ health and the city’s environment.
The ordinance directs the Board of Adjustment and Central Planning Board to receive additional information from development applicants regarding health and sustainability. The aim of the new law is to reduce the amount of pollution impacting health.
Advocates of the ordinance say Newark and other urban communities face higher levels of pollution from multiple sources including toxic waste sites, industrial plants, and heavy city and port traffic. The cumulative impacts of these pollutants make people sick.
In Newark, school age children have double the state and national average rate for asthma. Other pollutants, including diesel fumes and emissions from the largest trash incinerator, also cause health problems, advocates say.
Related Stories
| May 23, 2012
Summit Design+Build selected as GC for Chicago restaurant
Little Goat will truly be a multifunctional space. Construction plans include stripping the 10,000 sq. ft. building down to the bare structure everywhere, the installation of a new custom elevator and adding square footage at the second floor with an addition.
| May 21, 2012
Wayne, Pa.'s Radnor Middle School wins national green award
Radnor Middle School among the most sustainable schools in the U.S.
| May 16, 2012
AEG releases 3D video of L.A.'s Farmers Field
The Los Angeles Convention Center footage depicts the new convention center hall spaces, including a new lobby above Pico Boulevard, pre-function space, and what will be the largest multi-purpose ballroom in Los Angeles.
| May 15, 2012
Suffolk selected for Rosenwald Elementary modernization project
The 314-student station elementary school will undergo extensive modernization.
| May 11, 2012
Chapter 10 Action Plan: 18 Recommendations for Advancing Sustainability in Reconstructed Buildings
We offer the following recommendations in the hope that they will help step up the pace of high-performance building reconstruction in the U.S. and Canada. We consulted many experts for advice, but these recommendations are solely the responsibility of the editors of Building Design+Construction. We welcome your comments. Please send them to Robert Cassidy, Editorial Director: rcassidy@sgcmail.com.
| May 9, 2012
International green building speaker to keynote Australia’s largest building systems trade show
Green building, sustainability consultant, green building book author Jerry Yudelson will be the keynote speaker at the Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Systems (ARBS) conference in Melbourne, Australia.
| May 9, 2012
Stoddert Elementary School in DC wins first US DOE Green Ribbon School Award
Sustainable materials, operational efficiency, and student engagement create high-performance, healthy environment for life-long learning.
| May 8, 2012
Gensler & J.C. Anderson team for pro bono high school project in Chicago
City Year representatives came to Gensler for their assistance in the transformation of the organization’s offices within Orr Academy High School, which also serve as an academic and social gathering space for students and corps members.
| May 8, 2012
Morgan/Harbour completes three projects at Columbia Centre
Projects completed on behalf of property owner, White Oak Realty Partners, LLC, Pearlmark Realty Partners, LLC and Angelo Gordon & Co.
| May 7, 2012
Best AEC Firms: MHTN Architects nine decades of dedication to Utah
This 65-person design firm has served Salt Lake City and the state of Utah for the better part of 90 years.
