05/31/2026
BIG WIN! After *years* of advocacy, the IL General Assembly just passed SB3772, making historic progress for Illinois’ Environmental Justice (EJ) communities.
✅ Now, Illinois will have our first-ever legal framework for putting the needs of EJ communities ahead of big polluters’ agenda.
Here is how this landmark legislation helps our most polluted neighborhoods:
📣 EJ communities are typically low-income communities of color with high concentrations of industry, where air pollution can contribute to 5% of premature deaths and where asthma rates can reach 20% to 30% of children.
📊 SB3772 requires a cumulative impact analysis before new air permits are granted, evaluating the total combined pollution burden rather than looking at one facility in isolation.
🛑 If an assessment shows harmful impacts, the IEPA must consider changes before granting permits, allowing for tougher rules like improved air monitoring, fugitive dust controls, and increased testing.
As Jen Walling, CEO of IEC, put it: "This is a significant and meaningful step forward for communities who simply want clean air to breathe, and our work to secure that basic human right continues. We hope to secure greater protections for more communities in the future and the passage of the Hazel M. Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance in Chicago.”
BIG BIG thank you to our incredible bill sponsors State Representative Lilian Jiménez and State Senator Celina Villanueva! We couldn't have done this without you, of course.
Special s/o to leaders on Governor JB Pritzker team, like Deputy Governor Bria Scudder and former Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell, IEPA Director James Jennings, and their policy teams for getting this done with us.
