Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled new Title VI guidance to ensure that state and local government entities receiving federal funding put safeguards in place that prevent discrimination in their programs and activities. The new guidance focuses on key areas such as ensuring adequate public participation, access for Limited English Proficiency community members, collection of population and community data, and the hiring of a non-discrimination coordinator.

Title VI prohibits recipients of federal grants from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin. Residents can petition federal agencies, such as the EPA, to investigate and act against state and local agencies that discriminate or allow practices that create disproportionate harm against legally protected communities. These procedural safeguards are essential for addressing systemic environmental injustices and ensuring that all communities are treated equitably.

“EPA’s new guidance is a useful step in our fight for environmental justice at a time when states like Louisiana, Texas, and Florida seek to dismantle critical protections under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including Title VI,” said Earthjustice Vice President for Healthy Communities Patrice Simms. “While the federal government needs to do more in defending and upholding Title VI, this guidance will help state agencies, and other funding recipients, comply with Title VI’s procedural requirements. We look forward to working alongside the EPA and affected communities to ensure these best practices are implemented.”

“The EPA’s acknowledgement of the dire need for federal data collection is an important first step toward much-needed transparency,” said Abre’ Conner, director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at NAACP. “The NAACP firmly believes that every government agency and federal funds recipient must advance transparency to ensure equity for our frontline communities. We will continue to shed light on this as an area that needs strengthening and appreciate that the EPA is reminding agencies that receive federal support that there are stopgaps to mitigate environmental harms.”

“Procedural safeguards will not eradicate environmental racism, but robust and accessible public participation and data collection will help daylight persistent and systemic harms, which helps communities better advocate for their health and well-being,” said Amy Laura Cahn, convener of the Title VI Alliance.

EPA’s Title VI guidance comes some four months after Republican attorneys general from 23 states filed a petition for rulemaking with the EPA demanding the agency weaken Title VI at a moment when it had the potential to be a critical environmental justice tool. Also, this year, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the EPA and the Department of Justice from enforcing disparate impact-based requirements under Title VI against Louisiana and their agencies. A final ruling on the injunction is expected this year.