Louisiana Decision Undercuts EPA Title VI Efforts On Environmental Justice

A district court in Louisiana has barred the EPA and the Department of Justice from imposing disparate-impact-based requirements against the State of Louisiana or its State agencies in civil rights cases under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.¹This decision is likely to serve as a template for other states to oppose the EPA's use of disparate impact analyses when advancing environmental justice policies and investigations. Nevertheless, the EPA has continued to apply the disparate impact standard in other states.

Background of EPA Title VI and Disparate Impact

In 2021, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Principal Deputy General Counsel Melissa Hoffer announced the EPA would, for the first time, exercise "affirmative authority" to ensure that EPA funding recipients comply with Title VI.²Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, federally funded programs, activities, and institutions are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of "race, color,