Olens asks court to reject EPA demand states change air quality rules

Attorney General Jack Conway joined Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and 15 other states in a legal action against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for illegally invalidating the individual air quality protection plans in each of those states.

In May, the EPA made final a rule that tells states to stop allowing power plants and other air pollution sources to exceed emissions limits during exceptional times like startup, shutdown or malfunctions, when it is usually harder to control emissions.

The Sierra Club said the loophole that Georgia is challenging has long been an “irresponsible and risky giveaway to polluters” that threatens residents who live near coal-fired power plants.

Moreover, as required by law, EPA failed to consult with state and local governments, confer with business stakeholders, comply with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act or produce an accurate cost-benefit analysis. The states challenging the EPA charge that the agency adopted an illegal final rule that is in conflict with the Clean Air Act and infringes on individual states’ right to determine the most effective strategy for achieving air quality standards.

Olens added, “EPA’s new rule also demonstrates once again that EPA has no respect for the states’ primary role in determining how to meet emissions targets”. The states in the coalition allege EPA’s final rule illegally requires the states to change their previously approved SIPs. “The EPA is completely ignoring the scope of its authority under the Clean Air Act in order to force another overreaching rule on Arkansans”.

Schmidt’s office says that the EPA’s new final rule is an attempt to impose changes on state compliance processes and that the final rule came after they agreed to settle a petition for rule making filed by the Sierra Club.

States also filing the petition include Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.