States Sue EPA for Clean Air Act Records

Agency not complying with public records requests

Arizona and 11 other states are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for not complying with their public-records requests for information on the implementation of the Clean Air Act.

Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wyoming are the other states involved in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Oklahoma.

According to court records, the states allege that the EPA denied their request for records related to the EPA entering consent decrees with environmental organizations in lawsuits concerning the implementation of certain environmental programs. The EPA said the request was too broad.

The states then narrowed their request to focus on a federal haze program and asked the EPA to waive any fees for producing the documents, arguing that their release was in the public interest. According to court records, the EPA again denied the request as well as the fee waiver.