The Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully extended the deadline for states to comply with revised air quality standards for ozone issued in 2008, federal appellate judges ruled Dec. 23 (NRDC v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 12-1321, 12/23/14). "Even assuming EPA could adequately justify choosing a trigger date other than the designation date, it has failed to do so here," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a 2-1 decision. That decision means states will have six months less to demonstrate compliance with the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone set in 2008. "We saw what EPA would do given a free hand," Seth Johnson, the Earthjustice attorney who argued the case on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Bloomberg BNA Dec. 23. "It delays and prevaricates and nothing gets cleaned up. This opinion reminds EPA, not for the first time, it can't do that."
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