23 Attorneys General Say Biden’s EPA Promotes ‘Racial Discrimination’

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, left, addresses the media as she stands with Sebring Police Chief Karl Hoglund, center, and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman during a news conference, in Sebring, Fla. on Jan. 24, 2019.AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody led a 23-state coalition on April 16 in demanding changes to Title VI “disparate impact” regulations from President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which she argues advances “race-conscious environmental justice initiatives.”

The attorneys general allege that the Biden administration’s EPA has changed Title VI to go beyond the original intent of the Civil Rights Act and to “promote” racial discrimination in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

“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. 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,” Ms. Moody said.

Title VI comes from 1964’s Civil Rights Act, which prevents citizens from being excluded on the basis of race, color, or national origin from any programs that receive federal funding. Ms. Moody argued that since President Biden took office, his EPA has used these regulations to advance “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,” she added. This would “promote” rather than “prevent” discrimination based on race, the coalition wrote in the filing.

Race-Based Decisions

The coalition argues that “environmental justice” implies a “condition in which no racially or economically defined group disproportionately experiences adverse environmental impacts,” which creates a situation where permits are given out based on the race of those affected rather than solely on environmental impacts.

The Florida attorney general filed a Petition for Rulemaking, which cites U.S. Supreme Court precedent, including Alexander v. Sandoval, that Ms. Moody and others in the coalition argue makes these regulations “unlawful.”

They said the court in Sandoval did not directly address the validity of Title VI disparate impact regulations, but the court found the regulations were “in considerable tension with the rule ... that forbids only intentional discrimination.”

The coalition’s attorneys general also allege that these EPA regulations violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

“Notably, in 2020, the Trump administration proposed a revision to the Department of Justice’s similar Title VI regulations to remove disparate impact provisions. The Biden administration withdrew the proposal shortly after taking office,” the coalition said.

The coalition worries the EPA is straying away from the original intent of Title VI and would inadvertently compel States to “unconstitutionally discriminate against their citizens by incorporating disparate-impact liability.”

The coalition is asking for the EPA to not only grant the petition, but also to revise its Title VI regulations to honor the law’s original intent, as well as the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Along with Ms. Moody from Florida, attorneys general from 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 joined the 23-state coalition.

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment.