the Associated Press | Posted: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - An environmental group wants the Environmental Protection Agency to force 16 Western states to revise their air quality rules in an effort to trim ozone pollution.
WildEarth Guardians filed a petition with the EPA on Tuesday saying large cities in the West have already violated clean air standards limiting ozone and the problem is spreading to rural areas.
The petition calls on the EPA to force New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming to revise their air quality regulations to strengthen ozone safeguards by 2013.
The group also wants the agency to create an ozone interstate transport commission for the states.