“Certainly there was a challenging Title VI situation that the agency faced there, and lawsuits and counter lawsuits, and the prospect of potentially adverse decisions from the Fifth Circuit that might have impacted the entire civil rights program,” he admitted.
As the legal thunderheads loom, the EPA remains tight-lipped, declining to comment on the case.
Unyielding Commitment to the Law
Even in the face of more conservative appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, Uhlmann vowed that the OECA won’t deviate from its commitment to upholding the law. He assured that if a circuit court narrows the scope of the law, the EPA will adapt accordingly. Wetlands jurisdiction, recently impacted by a Supreme Court ruling, serves as a prime example of this steadfast principle. Despite the limitations, Uhlmann emphasized, “We’re not going to shrink from doing those cases or restrict our jurisdiction further than what the Supreme Court has done. We have an obligation to protect communities across America from harmful pollution.”
