Healthy Communities Program Report

Earthjustice reports on its efforts to secure and defend health protections against pollution and toxic chemicals. The organization highlights the use of 'citizen suits' under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act to hold polluters accountable, such as litigation against Suncor Energy and the County of Hawai‘i. The report emphasizes a strategic shift toward state and local legal avenues—including constitutional 'right to a healthy environment' claims in Hawai’i and New York—to mitigate the impact of federal rollbacks by the Trump administration. Key achievements include pushing for bans on PFAS in menstrual products in New York, reducing flame retardants in Washington state, and implementing zero-emissions truck rules in California. The document also details the projected life-saving impacts of federal rules secured in 2024, such as the Air Toxics Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule Update.

• Earthjustice utilizes 'citizen suits' to allow private citizens to act as 'private attorneys general' to sue polluters and seek federal court orders for pollution reduction and financial penalties.
• The organization has pursued specific citizen suits, including a Clean Water Act case against the County of Hawai‘i regarding sewage discharge of 1.7 million gallons per day and a case against Denka to suspend production at a Texas chemical plant.
• Earthjustice is increasingly leveraging state-level legal frameworks, including constitutional 'right to a healthy environment' provisions in Hawai’i, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania, and specific laws like the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law and the New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
• State-level achievements include a ban on PFAS, lead, arsenic, and phthalates in menstrual products passed by the NY Assembly, and a permit to reduce PBDE flame retardants discharging into the Snohomish River from corporations like Boeing.
• Market shifts toward zero-emissions technology are described as difficult to reverse; for instance, a warehouse rule in Southern California has led to 1,000 new zero-emissions trucks on the road.
• New York City's congestion pricing program is projected to reduce more than 1,000 annual premature deaths caused by vehicle pollution and has funded the city's largest order of zero-emission buses.
• The report identifies significant projected health benefits from 2024 federal rules: the Air Toxics Rule aims for a 96% reduction in people with elevated cancer risk near certain chemical plants, and the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule Update is credited with saving 11,000 lives annually since 2012.
• The EPA Administrator announced in early 2025 an intention to roll back 31 public health and safety regulations, though Earthjustice notes that some protections, such as the Lead and Copper rule affecting 22 million people, remain unimpeded.

APA

Earthjustice (2025). Healthy Communities Program Report. https://earthjustice.org/feature/healthy-communities-program-report

Chicago

Earthjustice. Healthy Communities Program Report. 2025. https://earthjustice.org/feature/healthy-communities-program-report.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Healthy Communities Program Report |date=3 July 2025 |url=https://earthjustice.org/feature/healthy-communities-program-report |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2025healthy, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Healthy Communities Program Report}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/feature/healthy-communities-program-report}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }