A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and the Administrative Procedures Act. Animal rights and environment groups, such as the Humane Society of the United States, Environmental Integrity Project, Friends of the Earth, and the Sierra Club, among others, requested in 2009 that EPA begin rulemaking to regulate Confined Feeding Operations (CAFOs) under the Clean Air Act. However, the agency has “unreasonably delayed” responding to the petition, allowing “preventable harms to public health and the environment to persist,” the environmental groups said.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C. dismissed the lawsuit ruling that she lacks jurisdiction over the case because the plaintiffs had not warned EPA of the lawsuit 180 days in advance, as required by the Clean Water Act. The plaintiffs maintained that they should still be allowed to sue under the Administrative Procedure Act. However Judge Chutkan said this would allow the plaintiffs to “nullify” the notice requirement contrary to the intent of Congress.
Peter Brandt, an attorney for the Humane Society of the United States, said the group plans to refile the lawsuit after following the 180 days required notice.
EPA does not comment on litigation and plans to address the need for regulation after completing a national air emissions study, which has been delayed as the agency responds to comments from its Science Advisory Board. As to EPA’s study of CAFO emissions, the agency’s own Scientific Advisory Board found that its data analysis was unreliable, which is why the agency is re-interpreting that information
HSUS and the other plaintiffs will only be able to refile their lawsuit if the EPA takes no action on their petition.
