Coalition Sues Trump EPA for Failure to Implement Life-Saving National Soot Standard

San Francisco, CA —

Seventeen health, community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit on Monday evening in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to implement the strengthened 2024 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter air pollution, commonly known as soot. EPA has estimated that the strengthened standard will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths annually, avoid 800,000 cases of asthma symptoms and 2,000 emergency room visits, and yield up to $46 billion in net health benefits once implemented. The coalition also filed a motion for summary judgment asking the court to put the agency on a court-ordered deadline to carry out its overdue responsibility.

The following is a statement from the legal organizations representing the coalition suing the EPA for failure to implement the strengthened soot standard:

“The EPA’s refusal to take even basic steps to drive compliance with the 2024 soot standard leaves one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution largely unchecked, putting the health of Americans at risk. Doctors and scientists who treat patients and study air pollution have made overwhelmingly clear that soot pollution kills and sickens people. Delaying compliance and enforcement of the standard is a choice the Trump administration is making to allow preventable health harms to worsen every day. Over and over again, this administration shows what its priority is – letting polluters off the hook. We are determined to ensure that the Trump EPA complies with the law and carries out these life-saving protections against soot pollution.”

Background

Soot is made up of tiny particles that lodge deep in the lungs.  It results from fossil fuel combustion and other sources and causes cancer, asthma attacks, and premature deaths. In February, the EPA missed a key deadline for designating areas with soot pollution levels in violation of the 2024 standard. These designations are the first step toward bringing dangerous soot pollution levels down to safer levels and making sure areas across the U.S. are in compliance with that health-based standard.

Under the Clean Air Act, NAAQS are baseline national air quality standards for six common, harmful pollutants, including soot and ground-level ozone, also known as smog. In 2024, the EPA strengthened the soot standard based on overwhelming scientific evidence. To reduce the amount of deadly pollution in the air people breathe, the law requires the EPA to designate areas that are in violation of the standard as “nonattainment” and put them on a path to clean air, but the agency has failed to do so by the legally required deadline. Read more about Earthjustice’s analysis of EPA’s failure to fully implement the standard.

The benefits of the 2024 soot standard can be achieved through more widespread use of readily available, cost-effective technologies and practices that many states and industries have been using for decades to successfully reduce soot pollution.

Last year, EPA reversed course and asked a federal court to strike down the updated soot standard.  Health, environmental, and community groups, along with a coalition of states led by California, have asked the federal court to uphold the 2024 standard. That case is pending, and the 2024 soot standard remains in effect

On Monday evening the coalition filed a new lawsuit and moved for summary judgment. The coalition members are Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, CleanAIRE NC, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, Michigan Environmental Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre, Rio Grande International Study Center, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Sierra Club. Clean Air Task Force, Earthjustice and Southern Environmental Law Center are serving as legal counsel representing many of these organizations.