Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA or the Act), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is providing notice of a proposed consent decree in Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club v. Regan, No. 4:24-cv-01900- HSG (N.D. Cal.). On May 11, 2024, Plaintiffs Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club (collectively Plaintiffs) filed an amended complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs alleged that EPA failed to perform certain non-discretionary duties in accordance with the Act: to determine that certain nonattainment areas under the 2010 primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) had failed to submit required state implementation plans (SIPs); to promulgate federal implementation plans (FIPs) for certain SO<INF>2</INF> nonattainment areas; and to determine whether certain nonattainment areas had timely attained the NAAQS. The proposed consent decree would establish deadlines for EPA to take actions.