Detroit area residents will be able to breathe easier after Sierra Club’s latest win for clean air. A federal appellate court ruled on Sierra Club’s lawsuit, reversing an EPA decision that had weakened Michigan’s obligations to address ground-level ozone pollution at a time when asthma rates in the region are rising.
Although the Detroit area has long experienced unsafe levels of ground-level ozone pollution, EPA agreed in 2023 with Michigan’s request to redesignate a seven-county area in Southeastern Michigan from “nonattainment” status under the Clean Air Act to “attainment” status—a move that allowed polluters to avoid stricter air regulations and more robust permitting for new sources of pollution. That decision was particularly devastating for Detroit and neighboring cities in Wayne County, where homes are down the street from auto-manufacturing plants and oil refineries, and where cases of asthma have been rising so disproportionately compared to the state as a whole, that Michigan’s community health agency has dubbed it the “epicenter of the asthma burden.”
The court agreed with Sierra Club’s claims and found that EPA’s interpretation of the Clean Air Act—that allowed for the loophole that Michigan used to change the area’s designation to “attainment”—was not the best interpretation of the statute Absent further appeals or EPA action, the area will return to “nonattainment” status, requiring Michigan to issue stricter pollution standards for the area and a stricter permitting process for new pollution sources seeking an air permit. The decision also sets a precedent that will help ensure other states cannot wriggle out of similar obligations.
Environmental Law Program Managing Attorney Elena Saxonhouse represented Sierra Club in this case as lead counsel, with co-counsel ELP Managing Attorney Sanjay Narayan.