Debbie Chizewer, Managing Attorney, Midwest Office, Earthjustice: “Everyone is entitled to breathe clean air. When our environmental laws fail, the civil rights laws should kick in to protect people.”

Coalition presses EPA to stand firm on civil rights protections amid new legal challenges

A coalition of over 45 groups, including environmental justice and civil rights organizations, along with community-based and grassroots groups, submit a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling on the agency to reject a petition filed by Republican attorneys general seeking to rescind critical Title VI protections.

A coalition of over 45 groups, including environmental justice and civil rights organizations, along with community-based and grassroots groups, submit a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling on the agency to reject a petition filed by Republican attorneys general seeking to rescind critical Title VI protections.

Ruling blocks federal safeguards against environmental injustice in Louisiana

Earthjustice welcomes EPA’s new Title VI guidance

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana permanently blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice from enforcing disparate impact regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in Louisiana.

Debbie Chizewer, Managing Attorney, Midwest Office: “It’s just another attack on one of the most important civil rights, environmental justice tools under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. It’s not a coincidence that the states who signed onto this petition have problematic records of allowing industrial activity to harm low-income communities of color. And…

Andre Segura, VP of Litigation: “The fact is, many of the states that have signed the petition have historically allowed these harmful facilities to be placed in predominantly Black and brown communities, without regard for the health and safety of residents. These decades-old Title VI regulations are critical tools for the federal government to use…

Debbie Chizewer, Managing Attorney, Midwest Office: “I think it is a perversion of our civil rights laws to say otherwise, to say that you can’t account for these past harms by creating policies that protect communities that are disproportionately harmed.”

Republican attorneys general from 23 states petitioned the agency to weaken Title VI

Erin Gaines, Attorney, Fossil Fuels Program: “The inner harbor desalination plant, which would be located in the Hillcrest, is just the latest example of this long-standing pattern of discrimination.”

Letter to city officials on a complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act against the City of Corpus Christi, Texas for the proposed development of a desalination plant in a historically Black neighborhood being referred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

An important step towards justice for a historically Black neighborhood

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruling restricts EPA and DOJ from protecting Louisiana communities from disparate environmental impacts

State of Louisiana v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et. al.

State of Louisiana v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et. al.

State of Louisiana v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et. al.