State wins smog suit against EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency was ordered to reduce smog that drifts into the Northeast from Midwestern states in a U.S. District Court ruling Wednesday that sided with Connecticut and New York.

“The Clean Air Act protects the people of Connecticut from other states’ pollution, and the EPA is obligated to enforce these commonsense air quality standards,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said.

The lawsuit, filed by Connecticut and New York State in January, alleged the EPA failed to perform its duty under the Good Neighbor Provision of the federal Clean Air Act for 2008 ozone standards.

The suit claimed that inadequate air pollution laws in states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio required the EPA to take steps to reduce the impact on downwind states such as Connecticut.

Smog from coal-fired electric plants in Midwestern states is carried by prevailing winds into the Northeast, causing “bad air” days in the summer and harming the health of residents, the suit alleged.

“As a downwind state, our residents have suffered for too long from other states’ lax clean-air standards,” Malloy said. “The EPA’s recent failure to hold upwind states accountable is not acceptable. “

An EPA spokesman said in a statement that the agency is working on a plan to address “good neighbor” obligations related to ozone gas.

“As we have already publicly announced, we intend to propose by the end of June, and finalize by December, an action that will address any remaining good neighbor obligations related to the 2008 ozone standard for these and other states,” EPA said.

Connecticut has long maintained that ozone pollution has made it impossible for the state to meet federal clean air standards. State officials say the ozone also impacts economic development and the health of residents.

Chris Collibee, a spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the EPA’s Federal Implementation Plan will not provide a “full remedy” to the problem of interstate pollution.

“Connecticut believes it will continue to violate the ozone national ambient air quality standard and force DEEP to challenge the FIP,” Collibee said.

But Collibee stressed the legal victory is good news for the state.

“This is the outcome we hoped for and is a credit to the attorney general offices in Connecticut and New York State,” Collibee said. “This will hopefully result in much needed emission reductions in the named upwind states.”

Attorney General George Jepsen said the court’s decision is a step in the right direction.

“Connecticut suffers from air quality problems due to pollution sources in other states that are out of our control,” Jepsen said. “Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA has a duty to take action when upwind states do not meet certain air quality standards and, in this case, the EPA clearly failed to do so.”

Jepsen added “we are gratified by the district court’s ruling in this matter, and we will continue to work with our partners in New York to hold EPA accountable on this and other matters where it has not met its legal obligations.”