However, a firestorm of criticism, from industry and state governments, has enveloped the Guidance. We reject the idea that there must be a trade-off. Communities want economic development, and have successfully developed hundreds of brownfields, proving that development without discrimination works. In fact, of the 51 civil rights discrimination works. In fact, of the 51 civil rights complaints filed with EPA as of July 1998, not one has concerned brownfields redevelopment.
All communities deserve environmental protection.
Rather than criticizing EPA's efforts, states and industry should be working toward avoiding the devastating situations which give rise to environmental civil rights complaints. Industry and state criticism of civil rights efforts has a long history. When civil right protection abolishing slavery was proposed in the 1860s, many state governments were opposed on the grounds that it would hurt their economies. When further civil rights protections were proposed in the 1960s, many state governments were likewise opposed. In 1998, these positions are seen as indefensible.