California, four other states threaten to sue EPA

SACRAMENTO -- California and four other states will sue the Environmental Protection Agency if it does not act soon to reduce pollution from ships, aircraft and off-road vehicles, Attorney General Jerry Brown said Wednesday.

In a letter to be sent today to the EPA, the five states and New York City accuse the Bush administration of ignoring their requests to set restrictions.

"It's a necessary pressure to get the job done," Brown said. "The issue of reducing our energy dependence and greenhouse gas emissions is so challenging and so important that we have to follow this judicial pathway."

The threat of the lawsuit comes as California is challenging the EPA in federal court over its decision last year to prohibit the state from imposing its own emission standards on vehicles.

Brown's letter announces the group's intent to sue, a procedural step required six months before a lawsuit would be filed.

Connecticut, New Jersey, Oregon, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and New York City will join California, according to a copy of the letter obtained in advance.

A coalition of environmental groups also says it is considering legal action against the EPA and will send a notice of that intent today. Both letters demand the EPA respond within 180 days, although the authors acknowledged that timeframe extends to the next administration, which might view such regulations more favorably.

"The EPA should have been regulating these emissions a long time ago, and it's just been sitting around," said Martin Wagner, an attorney at the Oakland-based Earthjustice.

Domestic and international flights account for 3 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. Tractors, snowmobiles, riding lawn mowers and off-road vehicles produced about 220 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2007, roughly the same amount as produced by 40 millions cars, according to the petitions.

Emissions from cargo and cruise ships are projected to grow by more than 70 percent by 2020 without restrictions. Emissions from domestic aircraft could rise by 60 percent by 2025.

July 11 asking the public to comment on whether it should regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

In that document, however, the agency said the Clean Air Act is "ill-suited" for dealing with climate change.

"We believe we've been responsive," Shradar said. "The first step in any regulation is an open comment period."

The attorneys general for the five states and the environmentalists say the EPA's actions were insufficient.

"It's pathetic and evasive," Brown said. "While it does indicate many important facts, it in no way comes to a conclusion that significant action needs to be taken now."

Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers said in a statement Wednesday that the EPA was continuing to sidestep the issue with "red tape and bureaucratic delay."

The U.S. Supreme Court last year ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to climate change. The agency is not required to do so, however, if it can show that carbon dioxide emissions are not a danger to public health and welfare

The lawsuit threat by Brown is just the latest scuffle between the federal environmental agency and the nation's most populous state.

In December, the EPA blocked California and at least 16 other states from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks. EPA administrator Stephen Johnson has said California's proposed emissions limits weren't needed because Congress passed energy legislation raising fuel-economy standards that achieve similar results.

California officials say the national fuel standards are not as stringent and appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The state suffered a minor setback last week when the 9th Circuit ruled that California had prematurely filed its lawsuit before the EPA finalized its denial in writing. The lawsuit in Washington, D.C., was filed in May after the final decision and is pending, said Gareth Lacy, a spokesman for the California Attorney General's office.