Sixteen AGs Intervened to Defend EPA’s Implementing Regulations under 111(d) of the Clean Air Act

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a motion to intervene to defend a final rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that updated implementing regulations detailing procedures for state plans to reduce air pollution from existing sources under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The New York-led coalition filed the intervention after the rule was challenged by a coalition of states led by West Virginia, who argued that EPA lacked authority to establish these regulations. In their motion to intervene, the New York-led coalition opposed this claim, arguing that EPA’s rule fell within the scope of the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act, and that the regulations “improve transparency and flexibility in the state plan process while promoting the statute’s goal of protecting public health and welfare from air pollution.”