Rhode Island AG Lynch Joins EPA Lawsuit

Lawsuit To Force EPA To Take Action On California's Request For Waiver To Reduce Vehicles' Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Approval would pave the way for similar controls in Rhode Island and 13 other states.

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2007-11-08 -- Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch today joined two legal actions filed this morning by the State of California to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action on California's request for approval to regulate greenhouse gas in pollution from automobiles sold in the state.

Rhode Island, along with 13 other states, today moved to intervene as plaintiffs in California's lawsuits.

Under federal law, California is the only state in the nation that is allowed to set its own limits on tailpipe emissions in addition to limits that may be set by the EPA. Other states can adopt either California's standards or federal standards. Faced with the federal government's refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and in the absence of federal clean car standards, Rhode Island and 13 other states adopted California's car pollution standards requiring that new cars, beginning with model year 2009, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they produce before being approved for sale. For the rules to take effect, the EPA must grant California a waiver. California applied to the EPA for the waiver, under the Clean Air Act, on December 21, 2005, to implement the greenhouse gas regulations.

"Almost two years have passed since California applied for the waiver, yet the EPA, under the Bush administration, seems content to idle and stall on this action which could slow the impact of climate change," Lynch said. "An EPA waiver means that Rhode Island and the other states that have adopted California's standards also will get waivers. It means we can get on with the necessary business of curbing emissions and the impacts of global warming."

Today, California, arguing that the EPA has "unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed" action on its waiver request, filed two legal actions against the EPA seeking court orders requiring that the EPA take action on the waiver petition by December 31st of this year. One lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, and the second was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Joining Rhode Island in filing a Motion to Intervene are: Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Vermont, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

On May 22nd of this year, Lynch testified before the EPA in Arlington, Virginia, at a hearing to determine the need for California's Clean Car standards, saying, "EPA's decision to grant or deny California's waiver request is critical to the interests of the State of Rhode Island and our ability to minimize the impacts associated with climate change."

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark ruling against the Bush administration, deciding that the EPA has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, as air pollutants. Rhode Island was one of 12 states that filed the lawsuit, Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, that led to that landmark decision.

Source: Rhode Island Attorney General