Houston, Dallas Can’t Drop Ozone Pollution Controls, Lawsuit Claims (1)

The EPA illegally allowed Houston and Dallas to relax air pollution controls, despite serious violations of past federal ozone standards, without making sure the cities had complied, environmental groups claim.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s reclassification of the cities’ air quality status from “non-attainment” to “attainment” weakens public health protections for ozone, a known lung irritant and a chief component of urban smog, a coalition of environmental groups told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Nov. 16, in opening briefs in a case filed in April.

The groups asked the Fifth Circuit to vacate EPA’s decision to ...