Legal
States-Municipalities Join Big EPA Suit Over Repeal of Climate Harm Finding
Coalition of 23 state attorneys general, 10 cities, five counties and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) filed suit on March 19 in DC federal appeals court, to reverse EPA repeal of the endangerment finding, claiming it is an illegal move against a core scientific principle.
A coalition of 23 state attorneys general, 10 cities, five counties and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) filed suit on March 19 in federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency final rule last month that repealed the endangerment finding, the 2009 scientific basis to regulate harmful greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants and other sources.
The suit says the rule is illegal, with the U.S. Supreme Court paving the way for the finding in a 2007 ruling. The repeal eliminates all greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and could generate more changes in climate change-related air emissions regulations for stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities, and in the types of infrastructure projects that are permitted, funded and built. .
EPA announced its final rule to rescind the finding on Feb. 12.
"By trying to roll back protections that keep pollution out of the air we breathe, the Trump Administration is once again throwing science out the window and putting Pennsylvanians’ lives at risk – so I’m taking them to court to put a stop to it,” said Shapiro. “I will continue to stand up against this Administration’s harmful actions and protect the health and safety of all 13 million Pennsylvanians.”
An EPA spokesperson said the new suit is “motivated by politics.” Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said in rescinding the rule that its regulation exceeded the powers Congress granted the agency to regulate vehicle and engine emissions, based on a “robust analysis of the law following [high court] decisions in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and West Virginia v. EPA.”
Suit plaintiffs, in addition to Pennsylvania, are New York, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, New York City, San Francisco (city and county), Chicago, Denver (city and county), Columbus and Cleveland in Ohio, Harris County in Texas, Santa Clara County in Calif. and Martin Lyther King County in Wash.
The legal filing is set to be consolidated with an existing environmental group suit, filed just after the repeal, in a challenge likely headed to the high court for decision.
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