CINCINNATI -A court yesterday rejected a claim by environmentalists that the government should force Ohio to comply with requirements of a federal program designed to make sure power plants, factories and other large polluters do not exceed air pollution limits.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Ohio Public Interest Research Group's argument that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to follow the Clean Air Act by not formally finding that Ohio failed to issue operating permits for all polluters.
The group argued that the government has the power to step in and take over enforcement of air quality laws if states are unwilling or unable to do so.
Three judges of the appeals court ruled that the law does not define standards the court could use to review whether the EPA should have found Ohio deficient in enforcing clean-air regulations.
The loss of this case is a big loss for the citizens of Ohio. Residents in Ohio can't be sure that they are protected from illegal pollution
said Keri Powell, a lawyer who argued PIRG's case before the appeals court in April.
Powell said she will talk with other lawyers in the case before deciding whether to ask the full appeals court to consider rehearing it.
The U.S. Department of Justice -which represented the EPA in the case -is pleased with the court's ruling, department spokesman Charles Miller said.
PIRG said that more than 13 years after Congress enacted the air pollution permit program and nine years after Ohio's plan for carrying it out was approved, the state had yet to issue the pollution permits to all of the approximately 700 major pollution sources in Ohio. These include power plants, factories and incinerators.
Under the program, every major pollution source must obtain an operating permit that spells out the allowable pollution limits, monitoring obligations and required compliance reports to state air quality regulators.
Ohio intervened in the lawsuit, arguing that an adverse ruling and the prospect of increased government regulation could make it harder for businesses to operate in the state. 17
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