In April of 2017, Mayor de Blasio enacted historic environmental justice legislation (Local Law 60 and Local Law 64), requiring city government to conduct a comprehensive study to assess the current state of environmental justice in New York City by determining which neighborhoods are considered "Environmental Justice Areas" and identifying the issues those communities are experiencing. When complete, the NYC Environmental Justice for All Report will serve as a tool to empower New Yorkers living in Environmental Justice Areas by helping the City to better understand and address issues in these communities. The report will also inform the development of an environmental justice plan, which will provide a roadmap for how City agencies should incorporate environmental justice into their decision-making processes and engage with environmental justice communities.
Learn more about the Environmental Justice program

NYC's environmental justice law includes ten requirements for the Environmental Justice Report. These requirements ensure that major climate, environmental, and health concerns within the city's Environmental Justice Areas are identified and measured, and that existing City programs to address those issues are also examined.

The Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability and the City’s Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group released a draft scope for the Environmental Justice For All Report in August 2021, and held a public comment period from August - September.

Read the draft scope of the Environmental Justice for All Report. The final scope will be published in Fall 2021.

The NYC Environmental Justice Report is required to include:

• The locations and boundaries of the city's Environmental Justice Areas
• A description of environmental justice issues that may be affecting Environmental Justice Areas, including:
• Locations within the city that are experiencing each issue, where possible
• Recommendations for further data collection, research, or analysis that may be done to better understand which locations within the city are experiencing each issue
• An estimate of current federal, state, and local investment per capita in renewable energy in Environmental Justice Areas as compared to non-Environmental Justice Areas in the city
• A description of barriers to meaningful participation in environmental decision-making affecting residents of Environmental Justice Areas
• Existing City programs and activities that advance environmental justice and allow the public to participate in City agency decision-making
• Existing City programs and activities that allow for public engagement and participation in decision-making regarding the siting of facilities and infrastructure
• Existing City programs, policies, processes, and activities that may cause environmental justice concerns
• Changes that could be made to existing City programs and policies to increase participation by people in Environmental Justice Areas in decision-making that implicates environmental justice concerns
• Latest environmental data, including (but not limited) to air and water quality, the location and characteristics of infrastructure owned and operated by the City, and violations of city environmental regulations, that may reflect environmental problems in Environmental Justice Areas
• Environmental Justice programs proposed or in effect in other cities or states in the United States

NYC's environmental justice law defines "Environmental Justice Areas" as low-income or minority communities located in the City of New York, based on US Census data (ACS 2014-2018). Defining Environmental Justice Area in this way enables the City to start from a baseline of social vulnerability in the Environmental Justice Report. These areas have been and continue to be more vulnerable to potential environmental injustices due to factors including history of systemic racism and inequitable resource distribution. The NYC Environmental Justice for All Report will identify and describe these injustices.

In the map below, you can enter your address to see if you live in an Environmental Justice Area. Note that some areas have been identified as a "potential Environmental Justice Area". This means that the difference between the census data and the Environmental Justice Area thresholds are not statistically significant, therefore we cannot be certain that these areas meet the income or race thresholds to be considered an Environmental Justice Area. The City will also seek to better understand these areas in the Environmental Justice Report.

View the full map

The Mayor's Office and the NYC Environmental Justice Advisory Board are hosting virtual town halls. You can speak directly to the City's leading advocates and experts on environmental justice about climate, health, and environmental concerns you are experiencing in your neighborhood. See below for information about past and future town halls.

Previous Town halls

Winter 2021 Town Hall
February 25, 2021 6:00pm-7:30pm
View the recording of the town hall
View the presentation from the town hall

Summer 2021 Town Hall
August 18, 2021 6:00pm-7:30pm
View the recording of the town hall
View the presentation from the town hall
View the transcript of the town hall

Future Town halls

Check this page or follow us at @NYClimate or @GreeNYC to find out about future town halls.