{"id":83338,"date":"2017-08-02T03:25:07","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T07:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=83338"},"modified":"2017-08-01T17:23:14","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T21:23:14","slug":"schneiderman-files-suit-against-trump-epa-for-stalling-clean-air-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=83338","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman files suit against Trump EPA for stalling Clean Air action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>16 Attorneys General Challenge EPA\u2019s Illegal One-Year Delay In Protecting Public\u2019s Health From Dangerous Smog Pollution<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

115 Million Americans \u2013 Including 1 In 3 New Yorkers \u2013 Breathe Air With Unhealthy Levels Of Smog, Which Often Travels Far Distances From Other States<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Standards Would Prevent Up To 660 Premature Deaths, 230,000 Asthma Attacks In Kids<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, leading a coalition of 16 state Attorneys General, today filed a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Administrator Scott Pruitt for illegally stalling the designation of areas impacted by unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone (known as smog) \u2013 vital to protecting New Yorkers and other Americans from dangerous pollution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the American Lung Association, over 115\u00a0million Americans \u2013 including 6.7 million, or one in three, New Yorkers \u2013 breathe harmful levels of ozone, which often travels far distances from other states with less stringent clean air regulations.\u00a0 The designations, which EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt recently delayed for one year, play a key role under the Clean Air Act in addressing smog\u2019s serious threat to public health, triggering requirements for state-specific plans and deadlines to reduce pollution in the designated areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne in three New Yorkers are breathing dangerous levels of smog pollution pouring in from other states. Yet again the Trump EPA has chosen to put polluters before the health of the American people,\u201d said\u00a0Schneiderman. \u201cBy illegally blocking these vital clean air protections, Administrator Pruitt is endangering the health and safety of millions \u2013 but Attorneys General have made clear: we won\u2019t hesitate to fight back to protect our residents and our states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney General Schneiderman is joined in today\u2019s suit by the Attorneys General of\u00a0California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, and the District of Columbia.\u00a0Click here to read the lawsuit.<\/a><\/p>\n

The coalition of Attorneys General is challenging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt\u2019s one-year delay in designating areas with unhealthy levels of smog as violating the requirements of the Clean Air Act, and as arbitrary and capricious.<\/p>\n

In October 2015, the EPA revised the national air quality standards for smog, strengthening those standards.\u00a0 The Clean Air Act requires the Agency,\u00a0within two years\u00a0after issuance of new or revised standards, to designate areas of the county that are in \u201cattainment\u201d or \u201cnon-attainment\u201d with these public health and welfare standards.\u00a0 In the case of the 2015 smog standards, EPA was required to issue attainment or non-attainment designations by\u00a0October 1, 2017.\u00a0 However, on June 28, 2017, EPA Administrator Pruitt published a notice stalling the deadline for the smog designations for all areas in the country for one year \u2013 to\u00a0October 1, 2018.<\/p>\n

The designation of areas for national air quality standards is a key statutory obligation under the Clean Air Act \u2013 and for protecting the public\u2019s health.\u00a0 For areas designated as in non-attainment for the standards, states must adopt \u201cimplementation plans\u201d \u2013 a collection of actions that the state will undertake to reduce pollution in order to ensure standards will be met in those areas.\u00a0 The deadlines for submitting implementation plans \u2013 and for ensuring that air quality standards are met within designated areas \u2013 are both directly keyed to the date of EPA designations.<\/p>\n

According to EPA, the 2015 updated smog standards will improve public health protection \u2013 particularly for at-risk groups, including children, older adults, people of all ages who have lung diseases such as asthma, and people who are active outdoors, especially outdoor workers.\u00a0 In fact, the Agency conservatively estimated that meeting the new smog standards would result in net annual public health benefits of up to $4.5 billion starting in 2025 (not including California), while also preventing approximately:<\/p>\n