State Attorney General George Jepsen said he and 11 of his counterparts from other states has joined in a court action to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas emissions standard for power plants.
The attorneys general filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit filed in New York by 12 coal-producing states that are challenging the terms of a 2010 settlement that involves emissions standards. The suit is led by West Virginia.
The suit stems from a 2006 case in which New York, joined by a similar coalition, sued the EPA to challenge its own ruling that it lacked the legal authority to establish emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act.
The EPA’s authority was affirmed the following year by the Supreme Court, but the rulemaking process was delayed. Connecticut and other states entered in a settlement with the EPA in 2010 under which the EPA agreed to enact regulations. The EPA proposed new regulations in 2012.
The southern and Midwestern states are challenging the terms of the 2010 settlement in court.
Besides coalition leader New York and Connecticut, other states included in the motion to intervene include California, Delaware, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Massachusetts. The coalition also includes Washington, D.C. and New York City.
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