WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee today announced that U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has joined the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure and will become the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight.

“Roughly half of New Jerseyans live within three miles of a Superfund site, far higher than the national average,” Booker said. “This is simply unacceptable, and too often – in New Jersey and across the country – those communities are comprised of low-income individuals and people of color.  I look forward to using my position on the subcommittee to address this issue and be a more forceful advocate for providing the EPA with the resources it needs to clean up these toxic sites.”

“I’m also excited to join the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. As the most densely populated state in the country, with the East Coast’s largest port, New Jersey’s transportation needs are enormous. I’ll use this new position to advocate for much needed investment in our crumbling roads, bridges, and water infrastructure.”

In the Senate, Booker has been a leader in fighting for more robust investment in our nation’s infrastructure. He was a key part of the FAST Act that was signed into law in 2015, a comprehensive five-year transportation reauthorization. He has also been a leader on jumpstarting the Gateway Project, a massive infrastructure project seeking to update the 100-year-old Hudson River passenger rail tunnel complex, a critical transportation artery for the northeastern U.S. that is especially key for New Jersey rail commuters. Booker has also introduced bipartisan legislation that would give mayors and local leaders more control over the transportation planning process in their states and communities.

Booker has also long been a strong supporter of strengthening our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure. Last year he introduced legislation that would establish a grant program to help local schools replace outdated water infrastructure and he helped author several provisions to ensure safe drinking water that were eventually signed into law through the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA).

Since his time as a City Council member and then as Mayor of Newark, Booker has seen first-hand the disproportionate impact that toxic Superfund sites, air pollution, and water pollution have on low-income individuals and communities of color. Newark has one of the highest rates of child asthma in the state of New Jersey. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control found that black children are more likely to test positive for lead in their blood than white children.

As Mayor, Booker championed the cleanup of the polluted Passaic River and helped lead the revitalization of over 15 acres of formerly off-limits riverfront property. In the Senate, he is  the sponsor of the Superfund Polluters Pay Restoration Act, which would reinstate the tax on crude oil and certain chemicals in order to provide funding for Superfund cleanups, and the Environmental Cleanup Infrastructure Act, which would restore Superfund program funding to levels in-line with what the program received in the 1990s.

Last year, he introduced a landmark bill that would strengthen legal protections against environmental injustice for communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous communities.

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