The Environmental Protection Agency can’t treat companies differently in Black communities than in white communities, a federal judge ruled this week.
U.S. District Court Judge James Cain on Tuesday granted the state’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the EPA and Department of Justice from imposing what’s known as disparate impact requirements under the Civil Rights Act.
The requirements would mandate Louisiana to ensure industries in low-income minority areas like the so-called Cancer Alley corridor along the Mississippi River reduce pollution to levels lower than in predominantly white areas.
Gov. Jeff Landry sued the EPA during his tenure as attorney general, arguing the rules are unconstitutional due to the focus on race and are a violation of the Clean Air Act.
Cain agreed, blocking the EPA from enforcing the disparate impact rules, as well as any other rules under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act that are not both ratified by the president and linked to specific requirements in EPA regulations.
Read the full story about the ruling from The Center Square.
