WildEarth Guardians

Friday, June 5, 2009
WildEarth Guardians Targets EPA Failure to Safeguard Clean Air in American West

EPA Sued for Failing to Limit Interstate Transport of Smog and Soot in Six Western States
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

DENVER - WildEarth Guardians today filed suit in federal court to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit interstate transport of air pollution and safeguard public health in the American West.

“The EPA has been dragging its feet at the expense of clean air in the West,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “For the sake of our health, we need the EPA to follow through and keep air pollution in check.”

In 2005, the EPA issued a formal finding that all 50 states had failed to adopt clean air plans that protect neighboring downwind states from ozone air pollution, the key ingredient of smog, and microscopic particulate matter pollution, also known as soot. Four years later, the western states of California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Oregon still lack approved plans to limit interstate transport of air pollution.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to adopt regulations to force the states of California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Oregon to limit interstate transport of pollution by 2007. As of 2009, the EPA has yet to take action to clear the air.

“Clean air is long overdue,” said Nichols. “With states failing to take charge, the EPA needs to make sure we have the pollution controls in place, not just to protect ourselves locally, but to protect our downwind neighbors.”

In its lawsuit, WildEarth Guardians is challenging the failure of the EPA to force western states to limit interstate transport of pollution. The lawsuit comes as mounting evidence shows that interstate transport of air pollution in the American West is rising. Already, many areas are suffering from harmful levels of ozone air pollution. Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other cities have violated federal clean air standards limiting ozone. However the problem is spreading, even affecting rural communities.

Recent modeling projects that by 2018, all or portions of 16 western states are expected to exceed ozone air pollution limits. The modeling, prepared for the Western Regional Air Partnership, which is associated with the Western Governors’ Association, projects ozone levels will be highest over much of the Southwestern United States and Southern Idaho.

Last December, WildEarth Guardians filed a petition with the EPA calling on the agency to prioritize developing regional solutions to tackle ozone air pollution in the American West, and force 16 western states to enact stronger clean air plans that protect neighboring downwind states.

While many sources of air pollution contribute to interstate transport, the largest sources in the West include coal-fired power plants, vehicle tailpipes, and oil and gas drilling operations.

Today’s lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco.

WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the American West and is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico with offices in Denver, Phoenix, Bozeman, and Oakland, CA. For a copy of the lawsuit, contact Jeremy Nichols, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org.

View complaint here.