US states to sue Bush administration over soot rule: sources

Washington (Platts)--18Dec2006

New York and 11 other states will file a lawsuit Monday challenging a
Bush administration rule that regulates fine-particle pollution, or soot, from
power plants and other sources, parties familiar with the suit said Monday.

The states will challenge a rule the Environmental Protection Agency
issued on September 21 that they said violates the Clean Air Act by ignoring
scientific evidence and setting the standards at levels that are too weak to
adequately protect public health.

Inhaling soot particles can cause serious medical problems and even
premature death, studies have found.

EPA is required to periodically review the soot standards to ensure that
they are based on the latest science. The rule that EPA issued in September
modestly tightened the previous "hourly," or short-term, benchmark for
exposure to fine-particle soot. But it made no change to the "annual," or
long-term, exposure standard, which many scientists say is more important.

EPA's own scientists and advisors had recommended a more stringent annual
standard, but the agency that advice.

Monday is the deadline for challenging EPA's soot standards, and it is
likely that more lawsuits will filed by the end of the day. Last Friday, four
environmental groups sued EPA in an effort to strengthen the standards. Two
agriculture trade groups also sued on the grounds that EPA was not justified
in tightening the standards.

Electricity generators have made a similar argument, saying particles
generated by power plants are not as dangerous to public health as those
produced by other sources. Lawyers representing large utilities did not
immediately respond to inquiries asking if they would challenge the standards.

Industry groups sued EPA the last time it tightened the standards, which
was in 1997 during the Clinton administration. The case went all the way to
the Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled that EPA was authorized to
strengthen the standards.

--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com

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