Case: DOJ Investigation of Houston, Texas

The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced on July 22, 2022, that under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, it launched an environmental justice investigation into the City of Houston’s operations, policies and practices regarding illegal waste dumping. The investigation, led by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, examined the City’s response to illegal dumping in Black and Latino neighborhoods, including whether the City responded to requests for municipal services in a manner that discriminated against Black and Latino Houston residents in violation of their civil rights and federal law.

During the DOJ’s investigation, the City developed and began implementing “One Clean Houston,” a plan to address illegal dumping and its effects. The City unveiled the plan on March 29, 2023, and explicitly recognized that illegal dumping was a pervasive problem negatively impacting the quality of life of many communities throughout Houston. The plan included several measures: 1) increased funding for heavy trash, dumping and litter reduction, 2) improved efficiency of collection equipment, 3) hiring and retention of waste management employees, 4) expansion of the Houston Police Department’s Video Surveillance Program, 5) improved enforcement of Heavy Trash violations, 6) initiation of the Houston Police Department’s Illegal Dumping Overtime Program, 7) increased efforts to facilitate and promote reporting of illegal dumping and violators, 8) improved partnerships with outside law enforcement and prosecutors and increased enforcement by the City, 9) targeting of major repeat offenders, 10) improved access to neighborhood depositories, 11) establishing a dumpsite maintenance and control program, and 12) improved community engagement. 

On June 6, 2023, the DOJ announced it had reached a settlement with the City of Houston. The Department’s investigation revealed that illegal dumping was a historic, persistent, and pervasive problem in Houston, and the burden of the problem was largely experienced by the City’s Black and Latino residents. The City’s One Clean Houston plan served as the foundation for the agreement. In addition to the measures outlined in the plan, the parties agreed that the City would identify a coordinator for the plan and would convene a One Clean Houston Committee. The City also agreed to give consideration to additional measures such as: 1) an enforcement and educational outreach plan to address commercial sources of illegal dumping, 2) detailed planning regarding community outreach, 3) additional strategies to address limitations and restrictions regarding the use of neighborhood depositories, 4) an ordinance that would require some large residential construction or residential rehabilitation projects to obtain and maintain a dumpster on the project site, and 5) a permit fee related to solid waste management. The agreement also stipulated that the DOJ would provide free annual training on the general requirements of Title VI to the City’s Title VI officials, and training on outreach to communities with low English proficiency (LEP) to the City’s Title VI coordinator and Language Access Program Department coordinators. Finally, the City agreed to develop a plan to inform and engage LEP communities and stakeholders about One Clean Houston, and would submit this plan to the DOJ for comment and review within six months of signing the agreement.

Reporting, monitoring and enforcement provisions were stipulated at the end of the agreement. The parties agreed to a three year monitoring period, with at least two meetings a year to discuss the City’s progress in executing the agreement. Written reports of the City’s progress were to be submitted periodically; every two months for the first year, followed by quarterly reports for the remaining two years. The City was to collect and provide the DOJ access to data tracking and monitoring the City’s responses to illegal dumping and related service requests. Finally, to enforce the terms of the agreement, if the DOJ found evidence of non-compliance on the City’s part during the monitoring period, it would resume its investigation and take further action to achieve compliance.

The investigation is closed and the Clearinghouse believes monitoring will be ongoing until June 6, 2026.