Crag Law Center

            In 2003, the Rosemere Neighborhood Association (RNA) in Vancouver, Washington decided to take action to protect its community and to obtain equal treatment from the City of Vancouver. For years, RNA believed that the City had been discriminating against poor communities by failing to provide adequate municipal services such as basic sewer service and storm water management. While more affluent neighborhoods have been provided with updated sewer connections, Rosemere and other neighborhoods were still left to deal with failing septic systems in a densely populated urban setting. RNA filed a complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act alleging that the City had received EPA funding and had discriminated against Environmental Justice communities by failing to provide equal access to municipal services.           

 

     After RNA filed its Title VI complaint, the City of Vancouver began an unprecedented “investigation” into the internal operations of RNA. Within a few years’ time, the City Council revoked RNA’s status as an officially recognized neighborhood association. Despite a long track record of excellent community service and strong relations with the City, RNA suddenly found itself responding to inquiries into its internal recordkeeping and its protocols for holding public meetings. RNA believed the City was retaliating against the citizens’ organization for filing the civil rights complaint with EPA.

 

     The RNA filed another civil rights complaint with EPA alleging that the City had disenfranchised the RNA for defending its basic environmental and human health rights.

 

     Despite EPA’s professed commitment to civil rights and environmental justice, EPA simply ignored the complaint of retaliation and did not respond to RNA or step in an effort to resolve the dispute. RNA filed the complaint of retaliation in December of 2003 and then waited for almost a year and half before finally filing suit in federal court in an effort to get EPA to respond to the situation.  After RNA filed suit, EPA finally agreed to accept the complaint of retaliation for investigation and then moved to dismiss the federal lawsuit because it was “moot.” The federal court in Tacoma, Washington agreed and dismissed the case. RNA then began working with EPA to resolve the outstanding complaint of retaliation.

 

     EPA was supposed to issue preliminary findings within 180 days of accepting the complaint. RNA worked with EPA for more than a year and half, and EPA still had not issued a decision, nor had EPA followed up on many of the witnesses and other factual information that RNA provided. After waiting as long as possible, RNA grudgingly filed yet another law suit asking the federal court to step in once again.

 

     Predictably, EPA again complied with its regulations only after RNA filed suit. This time, EPA issued its investigation several weeks after RNA filed suit, and EPA again asked the court to dismiss the case moot. In its report, EPA determined that RNA had made out a prima facie case of retaliation by the City but then determined that RNA had not properly responded to all of the City’s inquiries and therefore refused to take any action against the City. In the court filings, EPA also admitted that its case manager was improperly biased against RNA.

 

     EPA has moved to dismiss the case as being moot but EPA refused to respond to RNA’s questions regarding the biased case manager. Crag Staff Attorney Chris Winter is representing RNA in its federal law suit, asking the court to step in and prevent EPA from blatantly disregarding the Title VI civil rights protections afforded to Environmental Justice communities.

 

     This case is symptomatic of a larger problem – EPA under-staffs, under-funds, and under-appreciates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. EPA regularly fails to respond to civil rights complaints in a timely manner and has only upheld one complaint in more than a dozen years. In addition, EPA has recently taken action to dismantle the Office of Civil Rights in Region 10 (the Pacific Northwest). RNA asked the Crag Law Center to help it reform the Title VI process and to hold EPA accountable for ignoring Environmental Justice communities and the civil rights laws designed to protect them.