EPA Faces Challenge to Extending California Air Quality Deadline

The Environmental Protection Agency granted California an unlawful one-year extension for the state to comply with federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter, advocacy groups say.

The decision goes against the EPA’s own unambiguous state implementation plan rule that prohibits any extension of the Dec. 31, 2023 attainment date, Little Manila Rising, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air, and the Sierra Club said in their brief filed Feb. 7 with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA establishes NAAQS that states have to comply with by putting together plans ...