WASHINGTON – The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to assess harm to endangered wildlife and plants in setting national air pollution standards for hazardous nitrogen, sulfur and black carbon pollution – a violation of the Endangered Species Act Act.

The lawsuit seeks to ensure that the EPA consults with federal agencies responsible for protecting wildlife and plants to prevent the agency’s actions from leading to the extinction of endangered species.

“The science is clear that this air pollution can cause devastating and irreversible harm to endangered wildlife and plants like the Bay Checkerspot butterfly and the Shenandoah salamander,” said Ryan Maher, an attorney for the center. “The EPA ignored both the law and science when it failed to ensure that these harmful pollutants would not lead to the extinction of some endangered species.”

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to adopt “public welfare” air quality standards that protect wildlife and vegetation, as well as the lands and waters on which they depend.

In its final decision, the agency rejected the advice of scientists and maintained outdated air pollution standards for nitrogen and black carbon pollution.

The EPA changed the sulfur air pollution standard, but estimated that the new standard would not produce additional emissions reductions from pollutant sources such as coal-fired power plants.

In deciding on these air quality standards, the EPA failed to complete the consultation required by the Endangered Species Act with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to assess how the air pollution permitted by the standards would affect threatened and endangered species would affect plants and animals.

“It is astounding that the EPA continues to blatantly ignore the clear requirements of the Endangered Species Act, even though compliance with them would improve air quality for both wildlife and people,” Maher said. “Instead, the agency is content to let air quality standards stagnate for decades, even as real harm is done to our land, water and wildlife.”

background

Nitrogen oxides are produced when fossil fuels are burned and contribute to ozone formation, acid rain, nutrient pollution and poor visibility. Acid rain damages plants and wildlife by altering the pH of soils and waters – for example, acidification of aquatic ecosystems harms endangered whooping cranes by depleting their food resources. Cranes’ preferred prey, such as aquatic insects, crabs and frogs, are susceptible to acidic water. The EPA has not updated the nitrogen standard since it was first established in 1971.

Black carbon, also known as particulate matter, is a known threat to endangered wildlife. Research has linked black carbon to damage to numerous endangered species, including whooping cranes, desert tortoises and small mammals such as the critically endangered Preble’s meadow jerboa. Sources of soot include burning fossil fuels and fracking. Reduced visibility and haze are primarily caused by black carbon, which also damages forests and crops by reducing nutrients in the soil.

Sulfur pollution is released into the air primarily through the burning of coal. It contributes to acid rain, threatens endangered aquatic plants and wildlife, and increases plant mortality and reproductive damage on land.

The EPA made its decision on the standards as part of an agreement that settled a 2022 lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Environmental Health. That agreement required the agency to finalize its decision on air quality standards by December 10, 2024.

Today’s lawsuit was filed in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

For more information about the Center’s fight against air pollution, see Protecting Air Quality Under the Clean Air Act.