WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed guidance document on environmental justice for unlawfully targeting businesses rather than the state programs that administer the federal funds for anti-discrimination measures, in comments filed with the EPA today.

"EPA’s proposal ignores its obligation to ensure that the federally-funded state programs are complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and instead targets the businesses holding environmental permits," said William Kovacs, Chamber vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs. "The proposal is critically flawed and EPA must abandon all efforts to implement the environmental justice guidance document."

For more than five years, EPA has also ignored numerous recommendations from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, on how the agency’s environmental justice guidance document should be improved to comply with federal anti-discrimination regulations, according to the Chamber. EPA’s refusal to implement the Commission’s recommendations demonstrates that EPA is more concerned with targeting businesses than ensuring state and local environmental programs are non-discriminatory.

"Without substantial changes, the EPA’s proposal could force businesses in minority and low-income communities to close," said Kovacs. "Jobs and prospects for economic prosperity in those areas will be lost, after decades of federal efforts to encourage development through empowerment zones, enterprise areas and job training."

Recently, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the scope of Title VI regulations are limited to "recipients" of federal financial assistance, according to the Chamber. EPA is unlawfully focusing on the permit holder, when it is required to focus on state governments that receive federal financial assistance.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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