N.C., Sierra Clubunite on pollution

RALEIGH — North Carolina has joined with the Sierra Club in court to get a decision quickly that could force 13 states, including South Carolina, to curb air pollution that wafts into the state.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that the two parties filed a motion Monday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to quickly hear a request from the state, which wants federal air regulators to require power plants to cut pollution.

The filing is part of a court fight between state Attorney General Roy Cooper and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over federal policy governing air pollution from other states.

"North Carolina is leading the fight for clean air because it's critical to our health and our economy," Cooper said. "Our petition to the EPA coupled with our lawsuit against TVA can reduce significantly the air pollution coming into our state from coal-fired utility smokestacks."

Smokestacks emit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that contribute to the formation of fine particles. Those particles can cause breathing problems when they penetrate deep into the lungs. Nitrogen oxides also help form smog.

In 2004, Cooper filed a petition under a provision of the federal Clean Air Act that requires states to prevent their emissions from harming another state's air. About a third of North Carolina's counties do not meet federal standards for ozone or fine particle pollution.

In 2005, the EPA denied the petition, which asked the agency to declare that pollution from 13 states in the Southeast and Midwest contribute to North Carolina's air problems and should be reduced. The EPA ruled that broader federal air regulations under the Clean Air Interstate Rule would reduce pollution in 30 Eastern states and resolve North Carolina's concerns. State and environmental groups appealed. In February, a federal court put that motion on hold while it considered a separate challenge to broader national pollution regulations which dealt with similar air issues.

In July, that court said the broader regulations were flawed and struck them down. The court said states could still petition EPA for relief from air pollution from other states.

"Now that the court has struck down the CAIR rules, our petition is even more important, not only to North Carolina but to the southeastern United States," Cooper said.

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