ALBANY - Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Wednesday announced that he is leading a coalition of 14 states, New York City, and Washington D.C. in suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency “for failing to protect the public and the environment.”

The EPA and the Bush Administration have watered-down standards intended to regulate the amount of ground-level ozone air pollution allowed in the atmosphere, in violation of the Clean Air Act, the attorney general’s office said.

In March, the EPA acted against specific recommendations of its own independent science advisors and adopted two new, substantially weaker standards for regulating ground-level ozone pollution, commonly referred to as “smog.”  White House officials took an active role in making one of the standards far weaker than the scientifically recommended levels. 

“The EPA is charged with protecting the environment, yet the Bush administration has repeatedly used it as a tool for facilitating pollution instead of combating it,” said Cuomo.

“The EPA has once again turned its back on science and adopted a standard for smog pollution that fails in its fundamental purpose - to adequately protect the public health and our natural resources.  I will not stand by while millions of New York residents continue to suffer from dirty air because of the federal government’s deliberate negligence.  My office will fight to overturn these weak smog standards and force the EPA to live up to its responsibility to truly protect public health and the environment.”