This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Washington • A federal appeals court has rejected an industry challenge to stronger health standards for soot.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency substantial discretion in setting air quality standards.
The revisions followed a determination by EPA that existing standards for fine particulate matter did not sufficiently protect public health. Fine particles can lodge deeply into lungs and cause serious health problems.
The appeals court ruled 3-0 that the industry simply had not identified any way in which EPA acted unreasonably. The court said EPA offered reasoned explanations for how it approached and weighed the evidence
The National Association of Manufacturers argued that EPA's revision to the standard was unreasonable.