US: May 29, 2008


NEW YORK - New York and 13 other states are suing US Environmental Protection Agency claiming it violated the Clean Air Act in revising ozone pollution standards in March, the New York attorney general said on Wednesday.


"The EPA is charged with protecting the environment, yet the Bush administration has repeatedly used it as a tool for facilitating pollution instead of combating it," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a release.

In March, the EPA revised standards for ozone pollution, a prime component of smog that can trigger asthma and other breathing problems, particularly for the young and old.

At the time Stephen Johnson, the EPA's chief, said he complied with the US Clean Air Act and with scientific data in setting the new ozone standard at 75 parts per billion in ambient air in the United States. The previous standard was 80 parts per billion.

The EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee recommended, however, a standard of 60 to 70 parts per billion, with the lower level suggested for the young.

Industry groups had pushed for a higher level, citing costs of tougher regulations. They said that many counties hadn't been able to meet the previous standard that had been in place for decades.

The suit, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to overturn the "weak" smog standards, Cuomo said. US clean air laws require the EPA to regularly review and update pollution standards.

The EPA did not immediately return phone calls about the suit.

Besides New York, the states or state agencies in the suit are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and Rhode Island.

New York City and the District of Columbia also joined in the suit.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Christian Wiessner)


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE