RESERVE, La. (AP) — The Biden administration is using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to investigate environmental discrimination by state agencies and others that receive federal funds. Experts say it is a seismic shift to use the civil rights law to go after environmental discrimination.
In one example, the EPA has agreed to investigate allegations that Louisiana officials discriminated against Black residents by failing to control air pollution in parishes packed with refineries and petrochemical plants, a region some call cancer alley.
The effort is part of the Biden administration's promise to prioritize environmental justice enforcement in communities overburdened by pollution. On Saturday, the agency announced a new office at EPA focused on environmental justice.