Clean Air Act

September 13, 2019 | Legal Document

Wisconsin v. EPA Ozone Transport Decision

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that U.S. EPA is illegally failing to control ozone pollution — smog — that travels across state lines and contributes to unhealthy air in downwind states. The ruling requires EPA to secure clean air by reducing the pollution emitted by coal-fired power plants and other polluting industries in upwind states — pollution reductions that will save hundreds of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks every year. The court also rejected arguments by polluting industries and red states that the pollution reductions EPA has already required are too costly.

September 13, 2019 | Press Release: Victory

D.C. Circuit Rules EPA’s Failure to Protect People From Cross-State Air Pollution is Illegal

Court rules EPA must control smog that harms breathers in downwind states

August 25, 2019 | In the News: Associated Press

Maui County Prepares Wastewater Dispute For Supreme Court

Mahesh Cleveland, Attorney, Mid-Pacific Office, Earthjustice: “The way this case is positioned is that it has the potential to really negatively impact waters all across the United States.”

August 23, 2019 | Press Release: Victory

Smog Standard Too Weak To Protect Forests, Court Rules

Court rejects polluters’ claims that standards are too protective

August 23, 2019 | Legal Document

Court Ruling: Smog Standard Too Weak To Protect Forests

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the current national ambient air quality standards for ozone are too weak to protect the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will now have to set standards that actually protect forests, as the Clean Air Act requires.

August 6, 2019 | In the News: Bloomberg Law

Largest Sources of Cancer-Causing Ethylene Oxide Go Unnoticed

Emma Cheuse, Attorney, Earthjustice: “The facts are clear. Communities of color and low-income earners in Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia, and other parts of Illinois are facing the same or greater threats of cancer as are the people in Willowbrook, Illinois. EPA has to strengthen protections against toxic chemicals in these communities. These communities are calling on EPA to do its job.”

July 12, 2019 | In the News: New York Times

E.P.A. Plans to Curtail the Ability of Communities to Oppose Pollution Permits

Patrice Simms, VP of Litigation, Washington, D.C.: “What E.P.A. is proposing means communities and families no longer have the right to appeal a pollution permit that might affect them.”

July 8, 2019 | Legal Document

Petition for Review: Pennsylvania Nitrogen Oxide Controls

Pursuant to Section 307(b)(l) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 7607(b)(l), and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 15, Sierra Club hereby files this petition for review of the final action of Respondents United States Environmental Protection Agency and Andrew Wheeler, Acting Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, entitled "Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Pennsylvania; Regulatory Amendments Addressing Reasonably Available Control Technology Requirements Under the 1997 and 2008 9-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards" and issued on May 9, 2019.