On January 23, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division issued a ruling and a preliminary injunction in favor of the state in a case involving environmental justice requirements (EJ) imposed on Louisiana by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA defines EJ as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.” The current administration has put a significant amount of resources into incorporating EJ considerations into its decision-making, such as in its permitting decisions and NEPA reviews.
In the case at hand, the court ruled that any disparate impact-based requirements, or those pertaining to unintentional discrimination as is the case in EJ consideration, cannot be imposed on the state in civil rights cases under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The court-issued injunction blocks EPA from using EJ metrics in this instance and challenges more broadly the administration’s ability to require EJ in the permitting process.
This ruling may have impacts on what role federally-mandated EJ considerations are able to play in the future. A copy of the ruling is available here.
For questions on this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.