NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge has weakened the Biden administration’s efforts to use a landmark civil rights law to combat industrial pollution that has reportedly taken a heavier toll on minority communities in Louisiana.
U.S. District Judge James David Cain of Lake Charles issued his ruling Thursday permanently barring the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing so-called “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’s policy, which was based on possible violations of Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law prohibits anyone who receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race or national origin. It has been used in housing and transportation cases, but rarely in environmental cases. EPA under President Joe Biden, however tried to use it more aggressively.
The state filed a lawsuit in May 2023, a move that may have played a role in the EPA’s case to drop an investigation or officials in Louisiana put black residents living in an industrial part of the state at increased risk for cancer. The area, often referred to as “cancer alley” because of the amount of suspected carcinogenic 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 wrongly targeted pollution policies that inadvertently harmed minority communities the most, when the law only applies to intentional discrimination. The state also said the policies were discriminatory because they would allow pollutants to be regulated based on the race of those affected. Cain agreed that 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 lawsuit was filed, and his successor in that office, Elizabeth Murrill — environmental groups condemned it.
“Louisiana has given industrial polluters a free license to poison Black and brown communities for generations, only to now have a court give them a permanent license to abdicate their responsibilities,” Patrice Simms of the nonprofit Earthjustice said in a press release.
The ruling applies only to Louisiana and can be appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.