R.I., Mass., 12 other states join Calif. in suing EPA

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island and 13 other states have joined two legal actions, filed this morning by the State of California, that seek to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act on California’s request for approval to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions.
Under federal law, California is the only state allowed to set its own limits on auto tailpipe emissions, beyond those that may be set by the EPA. Other states are allowed to adopt either California’s or the federal standards.
Faced with the EPA’s refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, Rhode Island and 13 other states adopted California standards requiring that automakers reduce the amount of carbon dioxide their new cars produce, beginning with the 2009 model year.
In order for those rules to take effect, however, the EPA first must grant a waiver allowing California to implement its greenhouse gas regulations. California applied for such a waiver under the federal Clean Air Act on Dec. 21, 2005.
“Almost two years have passed since California applied for the waiver, yet the EPA … seems content to idle and stall on this action which could slow the impact of climate change,” R.I. Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said in a news release this afternoon.
“An EPA waiver means that Rhode Island and the other states that have adopted California’s standards also will get waivers,” Lynch added. “It means we can get on with the necessary business of curbing emissions and the impacts of global warming.”
The State of California, arguing that the EPA has “unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed” action on its waiver request, today filed two lawsuits asking that the federal agency be required to take action on its petition by Dec. 31. The lawsuits wRhode Island and 13 other states have joined two legal actions, filed this morning by the State of California in two lawsuits seeking to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rule on California’s proposed limits on automobile greenhouse gas emissions. ere filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Joining Rhode Island in filing a motion to intervene in those actions are the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
The Ocean State also was among the 12 states that filed the lawsuit, “Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency,” that led to a landmark ruling against the Bush administration in April, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided the EPA does have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants.
“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,” Lynch said in testimony before the EPA on May 22 in Arlington, Va., at a hearing on the need for the California standards.