Environmental Groups File Lawsuit over Pollution from U.S. Aircraft

by Valerie Volcovici (PlanetArk) Three environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday to press for faster action in setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. aircraft. Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth filed the lawsuit to force the agency to complete its "endangerment finding," a step in the EPA rule-making process that would allow the agency to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. aircraft.

Any "unreasonable delay" in setting emission standards for aircraft violates the law and the EPA's duty under the Clean Air Act, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The EPA was expected to finalize a proposal for an endangerment finding in mid-2014. But last June it issued only a preliminary scientific finding on the emissions.

The environmental groups want the agency to publish its final finding, opening it up to a public comment period, before President Barack Obama leaves office.

The agency has said it plans to implement a global carbon dioxide emissions standard being developed by the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization. READ MORE and MORE (Reuters) and MORE (The Hill) and MORE (GreenAir Online) and MORE (The Washington Post)