The EPA can't use Civil Rights Act to fight environmental injustice in Louisiana, judge rules

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has weakened the Biden administration’s effort to use a historic civil rights law to fight industrial pollution alleged to have taken a heavier toll on minority communities in Louisiana.

U.S. District Judge James David Cain of Lake Charles handed down the ruling Thursday, permanently blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing what are known as “disparate impact” requirements on the state.

Cain had already issued a temporary blocking order in January. His ruling was a victory for Louisiana officials who challenged the EPA policy, which was based on possible violations of Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act forbids anyone who receives federal funds from discriminating based on race or national origin. It’s been used in housing and transportation, but rarely on environmental matters. The EPA under President Joe Biden, however, tried to use it more aggressively.

The state sued in May 2023, a move that may have played a role in the EPA dropping an investigation into whether Louisiana officials put Black residents living in an industrial stretch of the state at increased cancer risk. The area, often referred to as “cancer alley” because of the amount of suspected cancer-causing pollution emitted there, stretches along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

In its lawsuit, the state argued that the Biden administration’s plans went beyond the scope of Title VI. The state said the EPA wrongfully targeted pollution policies that unintentionally hurt minorities communities most when the law applies only to intentional discrimination. The state also said the policy is discriminatory because it would allow regulation of pollutants based on the race of those affected. Cain agreed the EPA went too far.

While Cain’s ruling was a victory for Republican state officials — Gov. Jeff Landry, who was attorney general when the suit was filed, and his successor in that office, Elizabeth Murrill — environmental groups decried it.

“Louisiana has given industrial polluters open license to poison Black and brown communities for generations, only to now have one court give it a permanent free pass to abandon its responsibilities,” Patrice Simms of the Earthjustice organization, said in a news release.

The ruling applies only to Louisiana and can be appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.