NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) — The Environmental Justice Health Alliance For Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the federal government agency's alleged failure to issue regulations mandated by Congress nearly 30 years ago.
According to the lawsuit filed March 21 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the EJHA , Clean Water Action and the Natural Resources Defense Council allege the EPA has not implemented regulations required by an amendment to the Clean Water Act passed by Congress in 1990.
The amendment mandated that the EPA issue regulations by August 1992 that require "dangerous chemical facilities" to create a response plan in the event of a "worst-case spill" of hazardous chemicals such as what happened in the Houston area during Hurricane Harvey.
According to the lawsuit filing, Hurricane Harvey caused tens of thousands of pounds of carcinogens to be released and mixed into flood waters. The plaintiff alleges EPA's failure to issue the "worst-case spill" regulations violates the Clean Air Act.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the EPA's failure to issue the regulations and to compel the agency to "promptly initiate rulemaking" in accordance with the Clean Water Act.