Illinois Cracks Down on Stacking Polluters in Overburdened Communities as Washington Retreats

CHICAGO, IL – After decades of fighting to keep polluting industries out of their overburdened neighborhoods, Chicago's Southeast Side environmental justice community helped push the Illinois General Assembly to pass landmark environmental justice legislation. The measure, which now heads to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s desk, requires the state to weigh cumulative health burdens before issuing new air permits in communities most impacted by industrial pollution. 

"My mother Hazel Johnson founded People for Community Recovery over 45 years ago because she saw what pollution was doing to our community, and she refused to accept it," said Cheryl Johnson, executive director of People for Community Recovery. "This law continues in that legacy. For too long the state issued permits like a rubber stamp, and our neighborhood paid the cumulative price. Now Illinois has to look at the whole picture before adding another burden to communities like ours."

The legislation — championed by Sen. Celina Villanueva and Rep. Lilian Jiménez — amends the Illinois Environmental Protection Act to require that, starting in 2027, the Illinois EPA evaluate whether any new or expanding facility falls within an "area of environmental justice concern," defined by a combination of pollution exposure data and socioeconomic indicators. The law also creates a dedicated Office of Environmental Justice within the agency, with language access and community outreach built in.

"I went on a 30-day hunger strike because our community's health was being traded away behind closed doors," said Oscar Sanchez, executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force. "The people most impacted by injustice already hold the solutions and this law proves that when we are at the table, we can redesign systems to be more accountable."

The victory comes as the federal EPA rolls back air quality protections and retreats from civil rights enforcement, making state-level action more consequential than ever, according to advocates. 

"Illinois is choosing to prioritize communities over polluters at the exact moment the federal government is walking away from the most polluted neighborhoods in America," said Gina Ramirez, director of Midwest environmental health for NRDC and a lifelong Southeast Sider. "That matters. It comes from our vision for our communities where everyone’s health matters and is protected."

The legislation was sparked by a years-long fight against the proposed relocation of General Iron, a massive metal shredder that sought to move from a gentrifying North Side neighborhood to the Southeast Side, and produced a civil rights settlement with the EPA.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).