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08/28/2008 09:18 AM

EPA Sued... Again

SustainableBusiness.com News

The hits just keep on rolling for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is beginning to pay the legal costs resulting from years of Bush administration policies which chose to look the other way, instead of regulating for the sake of the environment.

This week twelve states filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to regulate the emissions of greenhouse gases from oil refineries.

The suit claims the EPA violated the Clean Air Act when it refused to issue "New Source Performance Standards" under the Clean Air Act for controlling greenhouse gas emission from oil refineries. The standards would ensure that new or renovated refineries take measures to reduce greenhouse gas pollution using modern technology.

In July the EPA, under the directive of the Bush Administration, effectively refused to take action on regulating greenhouse gases under the clean air act, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that stated it had the power to do so. 

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said, "If our nation is truly serious about regulating greenhouse gases, the Clean Air Act is the wrong tool for the job. It is really at the feet of Congress." 

The Agency extended the comments period for rulemaking under the Clean Air Act, essentially passing the buck to the next presidential administration. It did this, only after a lawsuit was filed by 17 states asking the court to force the EPA to move forward with the process. 

This suit, filed by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, is just the latest example of EPA policy decisions that are winding up in court.

The EPA is also being sued over weak smog standards, its refusal to address aircraft and ship pollution and an effort to block tougher tailpipe emissions standards.

In Florida last month, a U.S. district judge ruled, the EPA failed to protect the Everglades under the U.S. Clean Water Act.

Plaintiffs in the most recent suit include New York, Connecticut, California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia and New York City.