A federal judge has granted EPA's request to dismiss a novel case challenging EPA's handling of a petition alleging that a recipient of agency funds discriminated under the Civil Rights Act (CRA), handing plaintiffs a major loss while preserving EPA's discretion, though the judge also renewed long-standing judicial criticisms of the agency's civil rights enforcement program. Judge William Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Jan. 16 granted EPA's motion to dismiss Maria Garcia, et al. v. Gina McCarthy, et al, a case alleging that EPA violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Constitution when it dismissed the plaintiffs' discrimination petition. Orrick held that EPA acted within its discretion when it dismissed the petition and precluded the petitioners from negotiations with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) over claims that the department discriminated against Latino schoolchildren by disproportionately exposing them to the pesticide methyl bromide when it approved the chemical's use.
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