Mississippi’s governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The details: EPA will investigate whether the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Health “discriminated against the majority Black population of Jackson, Mississippi, on the basis of race and color, by intent or effect, in funding water infrastructure and treatment programs and activities, in violation of Title VI and EPA’s implementing regulation at 40 C.F.R. Part 7,” according to a letter from Anhthu Hoang, the acting head of EPA’s new Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, to the NAACP’s attorneys.
The agency will also investigate whether the two state departments have procedural safeguards in place to prevent discrimination, according to the letter.
EPA tries to resolve complaints “informally,” under its regulations, but failing that it would have 180 days to complete it’s investigation. If the agency were to find that the state agencies discriminated in violation of the law, the agency could refer the matter to the Department of Justice, or could threaten to withhold future federal funding until the state comes into compliance.
Reaction: “This action is only the first step. We encourage EPA to move expeditiously to conduct its investigation and to require comprehensive remedies to help resolve this crisis,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who is also a resident of Jackson, said in a statement.
The probe could represent the first big test of the Biden administration’s promises to ensure that the deluge of federal funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law is distributed equitably. Two congressional committees have also opened their own investigation into Mississippi’s handling of federal funds.
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