EPA Reaches Title VI Civil Rights Agreement with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CA)
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. EPA took an important step in
protecting civil rights and working for environmental justice by
entering into an agreement with the California Department of
Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) to resolve a civil rights complaint
filed in 1999 under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title
VI). Title VI prohibits intentional discrimination and
discriminatory effects on the basis of race, color, and national
origin by recipients of federal financial assistance. By entering
into this Agreement, EPA is delivering on its steadfast commitment
to protecting and advancing civil rights, reforming the
Agency’s Title VI program, addressing the backlog of
complaints and providing effective enforcement of Title VI. EPA
remains committed to demonstrating leadership on civil rights and
ensuring this process better serves the American
people.
“The EPA is committed to ensuring
that all Americans receive equal environmental and health
protections. That is why Administrator Jackson has made it a focus
of this agency to clear the backlog of Title VI cases and get
resolution in these issues that touch people's lives. Today’s
action is an important step towards this goal,” said Rafael
DeLeon, Director of EPA’s Office of Civil Rights.
“Environmental protection is public health protection and
everyone, especially children, deserves the opportunity to live,
play and learn in healthy communities.”
The complaint alleged that CDPR’s annual renewal of the
registration of methyl bromide in 1999 discriminated against Latino
school children based on the health impacts of this pesticide. The
Office of Civil Rights’ extensive analysis of pesticide use
in California from 1995 to 2001, raised concerns that there was an
unintentional adverse and disparate impact on Latino children
resulting from the use of methyl bromide during that period. This
concern was based on the high percentage of Latino children in
schools near fields where methyl bromide was applied for the period
from 1995-2001. EPA communicated its concerns to CDPR on April 22,
2011.
CDPR has agreed through this Agreement to expand on-going
monitoring of methyl bromide air concentrations by adding a monitor
at or near one of the Watsonville, Calif. area schools named in the
original complaint. The purpose of the additional monitor is to
confirm that there will be no recurrence of earlier conditions.
CDPR will share the monitoring results with EPA and the public and
will also increase its community outreach and education efforts to
schools that are in high methyl bromide usage areas.
California is one of the few states with a program to evaluate and
register pesticides for state use beyond national requirements.
Since 2001, EPA and the State of California have implemented
stringent regulations that address methyl bromide exposure levels.
For example, the State of California instituted a cap in 2004 that
limited total usage within specified geographic areas in each
calendar month, and further tightened that cap in 2010. In its 2009
Re-registration, EPA required additional mitigation measures for
use of methyl bromide nationwide, including in California. In
issuing the Amended Re-registration Eligibility Decision (RED) for
MeBr in 2009, EPA determined under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA)
that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from dietary and
all other non-occupational exposures from MeBr in the general
public when it is used in accordance with its labeling directions.
To confirm the effectiveness of these mitigation measures and that
exposure levels in communities remain below the Agency’s
level of concern, the Agency has required the manufacturers of
methyl bromide to conduct ambient air monitoring studies in major
use areas including California and Florida.
More information: https://www.epa.gov/ocr