New York and Connecticut have sued the Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to protect the two states from “downwind” ozone pollution from several Midwestern and Appalachian states.
Attorneys General Eric Schneiderman of New York and George Jepsen of Connecticut say the EPA has ignored the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” provision. It requires the Agency to take action when ozone pollution from “upwind” states make it difficult for “downwind” states to meet federal smog standards.
In 2015, the EPA determined that Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, and Michigan were not in compliance. The EPA had two years to take action. The suit maintains the agency did not.
Jepsen and Schneiderman say that one in three residents of the two states are exposed to an unhealthy level of smog, despite each state having strict regulations in place.
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