New York joins coalition suing EPA to force action on ozone petition

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) — New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, through a coalition of five states, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force the agency to take action on a petition that seeks to ensure upwind states control the pollution that blows into New York and other downwind states.

According to the coalition, pollution from upwind states causes health concerns for citizens of downwind states because the pollution contributes to allegedly dangerous ground-level ozone, or “smog.”

“States upwind of New York that don’t take adequate responsibility for their pollution shift the cost and public health burdens of this pollution onto New Yorkers,” Schneiderman said. “Our coalition has waited almost three years for EPA to decide on whether it will use its legal authority to require upwind states to stem their contribution to the smog pollution. As we have waited, the health of millions of New Yorkers has continued to be threatened. Today, we are suing to force long-overdue action by EPA on this important petition.”

The coalition initially filed its petition in 2013, asking EPA to add nine states to the ozone region. According to the coalition, modeling and analysis shows that these states contribute to ozone standard violations.