Case: Rise St. James v. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

This petition for judicial review of an agency action was filed on February 14, 2020, in Louisiana state court by RISE St. James, a faith-based community group opposed to the building of a 14-plant petrochemical facility in St. James Parish. RISE St. James was joined by several environmental groups including Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Healthy Gulf, Earthworks, and No Waste Louisiana. The plaintiffs were represented by Earth Justice and appealed the January 6, 2020 decision of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to issue permits to FG LA, a member of the Formosa Plastics Group, to construct a chemical manufacturing complex and asked the court to vacate the permits. 

The plaintiffs alleged that LDEQ’s decision: violated the Clean Air Act, since the proposed plant would contribute to violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards; was arbitrary and capricious; failed to comply with the agency’s public trustee duties; violated public trust doctrine by failing to conduct a fair and rational balancing of environmental costs against the benefits of the proposed complex; and violated Louisiana state law for failure to consider how the complex would affect St. James Parish’s master land use plan. The case was assigned to Judge Trudy White of the 19th Judicial District Court Parish of East Baton Rouge.

Beverly Alexander, a resident of St. James Parish opposed to the construction, intervened in the matter and requested the district court review additional data. (Under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1091, third parties with an interest in the case have a right of intervention.) The trial court remanded the case to LDEQ on December 14, 2020, with a directive to supplement the administrative record. FG LA (the permit-seeker) also intervened.

LDEQ appealed the remand and on March 5, 2021, the Louisiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, finding it had abused its discretion in asking LDEQ to supplement the record since it has not based its decision to remand on any of the conditions under which it is acceptable for a district court to remand to an agency to supplement the record. The case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings.

LDEQ issued a supplemental basis for its decision to issue the permits on August 10, 2021 citing regional data on downward trends in emissions that included data from up to 100 miles away from the proposed site of the plant. Oral argument was held in the district court on March 14, 2022.

On September 8, 2022, Judge White vacated all permits that LDEQ had issued to FG LA, finding that LDEQ should have denied FG LA’s application under the Clean Air Act’s requirements for new facilities. The court found that the complex would fail to meet standards for soot and nitrogen dioxide. The court rejected LDEQ’s argument that it should receive deference in its interpretation of whether emissions “contribute” to air pollution under the Clean Air Act since LDEQ did not itself issue the regulation. Further, the agency’s decision was found to be arbitrary and capricious because it: relied solely on data submitted by FG LA, but rejected that data in making its permitting decision; failed to consider the potential harmful health consequences of the site; did not use facts in the record to explain why an alternative site was not possible; and did not acknowledge the full range of environmental harms the site could cause. This case is now closed.