New York and five eastern states sue EPA for Clean Air Act failure News
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New York and five eastern states sue EPA for Clean Air Act failure

New York Attorney General Letitia James, and a coalition of five other states and New York City, on Wednesday, filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failure to comply with certain provisions of the Clean Air Act.

According to a press release from James’ office, the EPA is obligated to provide Federal Implementation Plans to help states solve regional air pollution problems, such as smog, under Good Neighbor Provisions when a state’s action plan “would not sufficiently and collectively reduce pollution emissions.”

In the petition for review, New York challenges a 2018 Close Out Rule created by the Trump Administration EPA, which determined that no further emissions reductions were needed for certain states to meet these Good Neighbor Provision obligations.

James challenges this determination as “unlawful, arbitrary and capricious,” and asked the court to vacate this rule.

Other states in the complaint include Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

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