CT AG Blumenthal, DEP File Multi-State Action Against Feds For Blocking States From Fighting Air Pollution

November 8, 2007 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today announced multi-state action to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow Connecticut and several other states to fight motor vehicle pollution.

Connecticut and more than a dozen other states have moved to intervene in California's lawsuits, filed today, to force the EPA to act on a waiver request that would allow California to enforce stronger anti-pollution standards for automobiles.

The ramifications of California's fight will be nationwide - impacting Connecticut and other states that have also already adopted more stringent motor vehicle regulations to combat air pollution and global warming.

"We have gotten nothing but smoke and mirrors from EPA - and residents have simply gotten smoke from dirty tailpipes - while environmental regulators have dithered," Gov. Rell said. "Our state's natural environment deserves our very best efforts at protection, not bureaucratic inertia. Joining California on behalf of our Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection should send the clear message that our patience has run out."

In May, Gov. Rell and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger co-authored an op-ed in The Washington Post that sharply criticized the EPA for dragging its feet on the emissions standards issue.

"The federal government should join or support our fight for cleaner air - or get out of the way," Blumenthal said. "The EPA, betraying its name, has shamelessly delayed our need for a waiver to enforce more stringent motor vehicle standards. Unconscionably ignoring a 2-year-old request that would enable states to fight motor vehicle pollution means the EPA now will have to answer in court.

"Connecticut has done its part in the fight against pollution - adopting powerful and practical automobile emissions standards - but the EPA is blocking implementation of these standards. The EPA must face reality that auto exhaust causes disease and death. The federal government has unconscionably delayed and denied our legal rights - exhausting all reasonable time in stopping our effort to reduce harmful auto exhaust."

The federal Clean Air Act gives California the unique authority to set its own more stringent air pollutant regulations for cars and allows other states, like Connecticut, to adopt California's regulations rather that those set by the federal government. However, the Clean Air Act requires that EPA provide California with a waiver before these state regulations can be implemented.

California's stronger regulations - the model for Connecticut's regulations and other states - requires reductions in fleet-average, greenhouse-gas emissions for most new passenger motor vehicles sold in California, beginning with the 2009 model year.

On December 21, 2005, California, supported by Connecticut and other states, requested an EPA waiver to implement these regulations. Almost two years later, the EPA has failed to act on the request.

California sued the EPA today, arguing that it has "unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed" action on its waiver request. California is seeking court orders requiring EPA to act on the waiver petition by Dec. 31.

Connecticut and 13 other attorneys general moved to intervene as plaintiffs in California's lawsuits, adding important support to California's efforts. Since California adopted its stronger emissions regulations for cars, 14 states have either adopted, or are in the process of adopting, the same regulation: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Blumenthal said these states account for more than one-third of the U.S. auto market. According to an analysis by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, by 2020 the cumulative emissions reductions achieved by these 12 states' clean cars programs will be equivalent to taking 74 million cars off the road for an entire year.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark ruling against the Bush Administration, deciding that EPA had the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, as air pollutants. This decision paved the way for states to adopt regulations to control greenhouse gas pollution from automobiles sold in their states.

Joining Connecticut in today's case are Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Illinois, Vermont, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Source: Connecticut Attorney General

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