SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced March 23 that he is leading a coalition of seven attorneys general and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The case revolves around the EPA’s alleged failure to enforce the regulation of methane coming from landfills.
“Climate change is the most important global environmental issue of our time. We must act to address it now for the sake of our children,” Becerra said in a statement. “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has a legal responsibility to enforce this critical landfill methane regulation. If he fails to do his job, our coalition is ready to go to court.”
The regulation under dispute is called the 2016 Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. The regulation seeks to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, carbon dioxide, and methane, which contribute to climate change. The EPA has not enforced the rule under the Trump administration.
“Landfills that leak gas stink. They also contribute to our air quality problems and emit potent climate-changing gases," said CARB executive officer Richard Corey in a statement. “The EPA has laws on the books to control this problem but it’s refusing to follow its own rules. We deserve better and we’re putting them on notice to do better."