Judge Bars EPA From Enforcing Civil Rights Mandates in Louisiana to Defund State Agencies

The EPA was citing a section of the Civil Rights Act in an effort to ensure that minority communities were not disproportionately exposed to pollution.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington on Jan. 4, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A Louisiana federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction barring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) from defunding state agencies over allegations of discrimination and civil rights violations.

Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal government can defund entities found to discriminate based on race, creed, or national origin. The EPA and the DOJ were attempting to use this section of the Civil Rights Act to ensure any future projects approved in Louisiana would not disproportionately expose minority communities to pollution, while also reducing current pollution levels.

Former Louisiana attorney general and current Gov. Jeff Landry sued the EPA last year, arguing that the rules were unconstitutional due to the focus on race and violation of the Clean Air Act. He also argued that the requirements were a federal government overreach because it was attempting to invade “the purview of the State’s domain.”

In his Jan. 23 ruling, Judge James D. Cain agreed, blocking the EPA from enforcing the disparate impact rules and any others under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act that are not ratified by the president or linked to specific requirements in EPA regulations.

“The public interest here is that governmental agencies abide by its laws, and treat all of its citizens equally, without considering race,” the ruling said.

“To be sure, if a decision maker has to consider race to decide, it has indeed participated in racism. Pollution does not discriminate.”

The case was sparked following a federal government investigation last year into complaints that state agencies violated Title VI by discriminating against minority residents through the agencies’ oversight of an area known as “Cancer Alley.” The stretch of land along the Mississippi River is an epicenter of petrochemical manufacturing in the country. Environmental organizations say residents in this area face the highest cancer risk from air pollution nationwide.

Complainants Blast Judge’s Ruling

Sam Sankar, a senior vice president with Earthjustice, which filed the original Title VI complaint on behalf of St. John the Baptist Parish, blasted Judge Cain’s ruling as a barrier to preventing “environmental injustice.” St. John the Baptist Parish is located within the industrialized area along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, known colloquially as Cancer Alley and Death Alley.

“The court’s decision to issue this injunction is bad enough, but what’s worse is that instead of fixing the discriminatory permitting programs that have created sacrifice zones like Cancer Alley, Louisiana is fighting tooth and nail to keep them in place,” he said.

“The public health crisis in St. John the Baptist Parish shows us why we need Title VI: EPA needs to be able to use our civil rights laws to stop states from running permitting programs that perpetuate environmental injustice.”

At the same time, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill applauded the ruling, arguing that the EPA failed to provide any legal basis for its actions.

“The EPA could not explain any legal basis for its attempts to force Louisiana to violate the federal constitution,” she said.

“When the EPA refused to explain its reasoning for threatening millions in federal funding in Louisiana and other states, we sued to require the EPA explain itself to a federal judge. That judge agreed the EPA is wrong.”

Soon after the ruling, the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) and CEO Roundtable on Cancer released a Jan. 24 report, which found that 56 percent of communities of color are within roughly 1.8 miles of carcinogenic-producing waste sites. A carcinogen is a substance capable of causing cancer. The report was a result of the Obama administration’s “cancer moonshot” initiative, led by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016. The program was revitalized in 2020.