WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
WildEarth Guardians Leads the Charge Against Smog

New Lawsuits to Target Failure of Obama Administration to Protect Clean Air
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Denver—Seeking swift smog clean up throughout the nation, WildEarth Guardians today put the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on notice that it intends to file suit to ensure the Agency is protecting clean air and public health from ground-level ozone.  The notice is one of three efforts spearheaded by WildEarth Guardians to combat smog nationwide.

“The EPA is illegally denying people clean, breathable air nationwide, in turn denying our society billions in health benefits,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians.  “Our aim is to give new hope for public health and prosperity in this country.” 

Guardians seeks to compel the EPA to find that states have failed to submit plans to clean up ground-level ozone, the key ingredient of smog, in order to meet national standards adopted on March 12, 2008.  Formed when sunlight reacts with air pollution from smokestacks, tailpipes, and oil and gas drilling, ground-level ozone is linked to a number of adverse health effects, including asthma attacks, difficulty breathing, wheezing, and premature death. 

Under the Clean Air Act, states must submit plans to the EPA to ensure air pollution is kept in check to meet national standards.  Such plans must be submitted within three years of the adoption of new standards.  If the plans aren’t submitted, EPA has to make a “finding of failure to submit,” which triggers a two-year clock during which the Agency must develop a federal plan or fully approve state plans.  Unfortunately, more than three years after the 2008 ozone standards were adopted, states have yet to submit these plans and EPA has yet to make a “finding of failure to submit.” 

The notice comes on the heels of President Obama derailing the EPA’s efforts to strengthen nationwide limits on ground-level ozone, the key ingredient of smog.  The EPA adopted ozone standards in 2008 that, while stronger than standards previously adopted in 1997, were found to lack scientific justification.  In 2010, current EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson proposed to strengthen the 2008 standards.  However, on September 2, 2011, President Obama intervened politically and directed the Administrator to abandon her plans.

Although the President’s decision denies clean, breathable air for millions, particularly in the American West, the decision also means that the 2008 standards remain in effect and the best hope for protecting people from smog. 

Today’s notice is one of three legal efforts undertaken by WildEarth Guardians to make sure that in the wake of the President’s decision, the EPA is at least held accountable to ensuring the 2008 standards are met throughout the United States.

On August 24, 2011, WildEarth Guardians filed suit in federal court against the EPA to compel the Agency to officially designate areas that are in violation of the 2008 ozone standards.  Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to make these designations by March 12, 2011.  The overdue designations will spur much-needed clean ups of dirty air areas nationwide.

And on September 8, 2011, WildEarth Guardians put the EPA on notice of another impending lawsuit  to compel the EPA to promulgate rules to prevent significant deterioration of air quality from ground-level ozone.  Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to promulgate these rules by March 12, 2010, meaning they are long overdue. 

“The 2008 standards may not go far enough, but it’s senseless to stall their implementation while political games are played,” said Nichols.  “There’s real people at stake here, not bargaining chips.  It’s time to put clean air first.”

Combined, the three legal efforts aim to keep the EPA on track to curb ground-level ozone pollution even as the Agency may ultimately revise the standards at some point. 

Under the Clean Air Act, citizens can file suit in federal court against the EPA to enforce deadlines, but first have to provide 60 days of notice.  If a resolution cannot be reached after 60 days, WildEarth Guardians plans to file suit to ensure the EPA makes its “finding of failure to submit.” 

WildEarth Guardians is a New Mexico-based nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting and restoring wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers in the American West and beyond.  Through its Climate and Energy Program, Guardians seeks to address the impacts of global warming by advancing clean energy solutions.