(Hartford, CT) — Attorney General William Tong announced this week that a federal court has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) aimed at reducing fine particulate matter, commonly known as soot.
The ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the states’ motion for summary judgment and rejected the EPA’s effort to block the lawsuit.
In April, Attorney General Tong joined a coalition of 12 attorneys general in suing the EPA over its failure to implement a 2024 Clean Air Act rule strengthening national soot standards. Soot is produced by sources including motor vehicles, factories, and construction sites. Because the particles are extremely small, they can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and contribute to serious health problems, including heart attacks, asthma attacks, cancer, and shortened lifespans.
“There is nothing more vital to public health than the air we breathe, and we cannot take that for granted. We sued to force the EPA to do its job, and we’re going to stay on them until it gets done,” Attorney General Tong said.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to establish air quality standards and identify areas that do not meet updated pollution limits. Those nonattainment designations help states implement programs designed to reduce dangerous pollution levels. The lawsuit alleged the EPA failed to meet that deadline, and the court has now ordered the agency to issue the required designations.
According to the EPA, fully implementing the 2024 soot standard could prevent approximately 4,500 premature deaths annually, along with 2,000 emergency room visits, 5,700 new asthma cases, 800,000 asthma symptom cases, 290,000 lost workdays, and 1,000 hospital admissions related to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The agency estimates the public health benefits would exceed implementation costs by approximately $46 billion.
Assistant Attorney General Jill Lacedonia and Deputy Associate Attorney General Matthew Levine, chief of the Environment Section, are assisting Attorney General Tong in the matter.