Rise St. James v. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

A Louisiana District Court vacated air permits for a new chemical manufacturing complex in St. James Parish in an area referred to as Louisiana’s “Industrial Corridor.” The court found that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) violated the Clean Air Act, the agency’s duties under the Louisiana Constitution’s public trust doctrine, and statutory requirements to consider how the air permits would affect the St. James Parish master plan. The violations of the public trust doctrine included LDEQ’s failure to consider the negative consequences of the project’s 13.6 tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions in the agency’s balancing of costs and benefits. The court found that LDEQ could not rely on its finding that the facility would comply with applicable standards and emission controls as a reason for not considering the impacts of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions. The court also was not persuaded by LDEQ’s argument that it could not determine how a specific facility’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions would affect the physical environment. The court stated that “LDEQ’s public trustee duty does not require exactness” and that LDEQ was “not excused of its duty to evaluate the potential and real adverse impacts of [the applicant’s] greenhouse gases—especially given the enormity of the emissions—because it cannot quantify the exact impact at a specific place on Earth.” The court held that LDEQ “must take special care to consider the impact of climate-driven disasters fueled by greenhouse gases on environmental justice communities and their ability to recover.” The Advocate reported that LDEQ and the applicant filed notices of appeal and asked the district court to suspend the ruling pending the outcome of the appeals.