Arizona may sue to get action by feds on air-quality plans, official says

Arizona is tired of waiting for the federal government to act on the state’s proposed air-quality plan and “very well may” sue the Environmental Protection Agency if action is not taken soon, a state official said Thursday. “I’m getting ready to sue the EPA over SIPs (state implementation plans) because that seems to be the only way to get their attention,” said Henry Darwin, the director of Arizona’s Department of Environmental Quality. He was one of several state environmental agency directors on Capitol Hill for a congressional roundtable Thursday on the Clean Air Act. In written remarks, Darwin said states have become “marginalized” by the EPA’s current process for considering state implementation plans. “EPA often decides when to review SIPs based upon the risk of being sued by special interest groups,” he said. “This has led to the state process being marginalized, and resulted in significant delays in implementing environmental protections.”...more