American Lung Association To File Smog, Soot Petitions with Court
Contact: Norm Childs or Paul Billings, 202-785-3355, American Lung Association
WASHINGTON, June 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The American Lung Association announced that it is filing two petitions with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit requesting that the court conduct a rehearing of the smog and soot health standards cases.
The health organization also requested an "en banc" rehearing for each case, that is, a rehearing before the entire 11-member court.
"The court's interpretation of the law is insupportable," said John R. Garrison, CEO of the American Lung Association. "Our action today is the first step to restoring reason and the intent of the Clean Air Act."
Last month, the Court of Appeals overturned the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ozone and particulate matter air pollution health standards. The American Lung Association believes the court decision was wrong and inconsistent with the Clean Air Act and the thirty years of legal precedent enforcing the law.
The Lung Association's ozone petition explains how the court misinterpreted the way the law addresses new ozone standards. In both petitions, the American Lung Association challenges the courts' misapplication of a little-known constitutional doctrine -- the "non-delegation doctrine."
"The court has nominally recognized EPA's authority to revise the ozone health standard but effectively precluded the agency from enforcing any revised ozone standard," said Howard I. Fox, of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and counsel to the American Lung Association. "That ruling squarely contravenes the Clean Air Act. The ruling would lead to absurd and impossible results, and -- violating the health protection mandate at the core of the Act -- threatens to prolong the exposure of tens of millions of Americans around the country to air pollution that EPA has found unhealthful."
"The court found that the numerous scientific studies justified the establishment of new fine particle standards. Nonetheless, the court remanded the standards on constitutional grounds, under the non-delegation doctrine," said Fox. "The panel's ruling is in error. The Clean Air Act and legislative history offer more than ample guidance to satisfy the non-delegation doctrine. The panel's ruling to the contrary, conflicts with numerous past rulings of this Court, the Supreme Court, and at least one other circuit."
"We are confident that we will ultimately prevail and the revised health-based air quality standards will be enforced to protect the public health," concluded Garrison.
Earlier this month, the Lung Association released public opinion survey results that American voters overwhelmingly trust the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- rather than Congress or the courts -- to set clean air health standards. The survey found that voters overwhelmingly support stricter clean air health standards. The poll also indicated that voters would like to see standards set at strict levels that would protect the health of children with asthma and senior citizens.
The American Lung Association was an intervenor in both the ozone and particulate matter lawsuits overturned by the court.
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/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 06/28 13:35
Copyright 1999, U.S. Newswire
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