NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) — New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Jan. 19 that his office has filed a motion in District of Columbia.District Court seeking to intervene in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Update Rule.
New York joins five other states – Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont – in defending the EPA measure, which mandates that power plants in 22 states reduce their smog pollution that blows downwind into other states and allegedly threatens public health. Fourteen energy companies and upwind states have challenged the rule, attempting to overturn it.
“Smog pollution blowing in from other states threatens the health of millions of New Yorkers, particularly seniors and children,” Schneiderman said. “New York has already put in place some of the most effective air quality protections in the country, but we have no control over dirty air that pours in from other states. The Trump administration has signaled its desire to roll back federal environmental protections, including those that protect states from out-of-state polluters. This is why defending this sensible, fair, and crucial rule is so important.”
Assistant attorneys general Michael J. Myers, Morgan A. Costello and Andrew G. Frank of Schneiderman’s Environmental Protection Bureau are handling the case for New York, under the supervision of bureau chief Lemuel Srolovic.