States Sue EPA Seeking Lower Soot Levels

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Dec 18, 2006 11:59 am US/Eastern

N.Y., N.J, Conn. Sue EPA Seeking Lower Soot Levels

(CBS/AP) ALBANY More than a dozen states -- including New York, New Jersey and

Connecticut -- sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to lower

soot

levels from smokestacks and exhaust pipes, a move the state officials argue

would save

thousands of lives.

The states argue that the Bush administration is ignoring science and its own

experts in

refusing to slightly reduce the allowed threshold for soot. The " fine

particulate matter " in

soot contributes to premature death, chronic respiratory disease and asthma

attacks, said

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The pollution also leads to more

hospital

admissions and other public health costs, he said.

Officials from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New

Hampshire, New

Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District

of

Columbia joined New York in the action filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in

Washington.

" It is unfortunate that this coalition of states must resort to legal action to

get the EPA to

do its job -- protect the environment and the public health, " said Spitzer, the

Democratic

governor-elect.

An EPA spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The emissions, described as much smaller than a grain of sand, come from

automobiles,

power plants, factories and wood fires.

The states want to reduce the current limit by 1 microgram or 2 micrograms of

soot

allowed per cubic foot of air. The current maximum is 15 micrograms. The states

contend

the EPA has ignored their pleas and scientific evidence in choosing to continue

the current

standard.

The federal Clean Air Act requires a review every five years to determine if air

pollution

standards should be adjusted. The states argue this compels the EPA to act. The

states

want the federal court to find the EPA failed to obey its " Congressional mandate

to protect

the environment and the public health, " according to a statement from Spitzer's

office.