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Victory in Maine Requires Pollution Control Measures to Combat Smog

Case Updates:

August 1, 2004

Sierra Club recently won another round in its campaign to clean up the nation’s air in a settlement with the state of Maine. The agreement stems from a national lawsuit filed three years ago by the Club to force 15 metropolitan areas, including Portland, Maine, to clean up their air and comply with federal pollution limits. Maine had failed to meet a 1996 deadline for meeting the EPA’s health standard for ground-level ozone (a.k.a. smog), which should have triggered more serious actions. However, the Bush administration failed to issue the new mandate. The settlement makes Maine’s low-emission vehicle program and pollution controls at a power plant in Yarmouth federally enforceable. It also establishes regulations for emissions controls on a range of products such as paints and solvents. The regulations are estimated to eliminate about 14 tons of polluting emissions each day.

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