It would seem so, but that may change. A recent decision out of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, although on the surface deciding against the Agency, only serves to bolster the Obama administration's EPA in its stated intention to address environmental justice issues more forcefully (Rosemere Neighborhood Association v. EPA).

Rosemere is a community organization in Clark County, Washington. It has had ongoing disputes with the city of Vancouver over providing municipal services to low-income communities. In 2003, Rosemere filed a complaint with EPA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) over Vancouver's failure to properly use EPA funds to address lingering environmental problems in the city's low-income and minority communities. OCR is required to accept or reject a complaint within 20 days. If it accepts, it has 180 days to issue preliminary findings. EPA rejected this complaint.

Vancouver opened an inquiry that led to the revocation of Rosemere's status as a formal neighborhood association. Rosemere filed a second complaint with OCR alleging retaliation. EPA, eventually required to move on this complaint through a court order, accepted the complaint, then dismissed it as moot. A district court upheld EPA's stance.

The Appeals Court reversed and found that Rosemere's experiences appear "sadly and unfortunately typical of those who appeal to OCR to remedy civil rights violations." According to the court, discovery shows that EPA failed to process a single complaint from 2006 or 2007 in accordance with its regulatory deadlines.