Moody leads 23-state legal effort urging EPA to revise ‘environmental justice’ regulations
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody spearheaded a coalition Tuesday comprising 23 states in filing legal action demanding the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency to amend its Title VI regulations.
According to Moody’s office, these regulations, often referred to as “disparate impact” regulations, serve as the foundation for the agency’s pursuit of race-conscious “environmental justice” initiatives.
“The EPA should be focusing on enforcing the environmental laws passed by Congress, not so called ‘environmental justice,’ which is a euphemism for Biden’s extreme agenda,” Moody said. “His radical exploitation of Title VI, if followed, would force states to unconstitutionally discriminate against their own citizens. The EPA should grant our Petition and revise its Title VI regulations.”
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted to prohibit the exclusion of any individual in the U.S. from participation in federally funded programs based on race, color, or national origin.
However, since President Joe Biden assumed office, the “Petition for Rulemaking,” signed by 23 state attorneys, said the Environmental Protection Agency “has taken unprecedented steps to use the EPA’s Title VI regulations to advance what it calls ‘environmental justice’ [….] In practice, ‘environmental justice’ asks the States to engage in racial engineering in deciding whether to, for example, issue environmental permits, rather than relying on the effect on the environment and other appropriate factors.”
The petition stated that the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations are “unlawful.”
The coalition highlighted their skepticism regarding the validity of the agency’s “disparate impact regulations” under Title VI, as expressed in the Alexander v. Sandoval case.
The attorneys general asserted that these regulations are in conflict with the rule prohibiting only “intentional discrimination.” Furthermore, they referenced scholars who have also suggested that the regulations may violate the Equal Protection Clause.
During the Trump administration in 2020, there was a proposal to revise similar Title VI regulations by the Department of Justice, aiming to remove disparate impact provisions. However, the Biden administration withdrew this proposal shortly after assuming office.
The coalition concluded the petition stating: “By imposing disparate impact liability where it is not called for by statute, the EPA’s regulations gravely depart from the original understanding of Title VI and compel States to unconstitutionally discriminate against their citizens by incorporating disparate-impact liability. EPA should grant this Petition and revise its Title VI regulations to be consistent with Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause.”
Moody is joined on the petition by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
