WASHINGTON, D. C. – Attorney General Karl A. Racine has joined a group of 14 state attorneys general and the City of Chicago in taking legal action to secure reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and other harmful air pollutants. The coalition filed a motion to intervene in Clean Air Council v. Pruitt, a lawsuit brought by environmental organizations after U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt halted regulation of air pollution leaks at new oil and gas facilities.

The motion to intervene was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in support of environmental organizations seeking to end what they allege is the EPA’s unlawful administrative stay of an existing rule. The rule, finalized in 2016, was implemented to prevent emissions of thousands of tons of the greenhouse gas methane, smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hazardous pollutants including benzene and formaldehyde. The rule applies to facilities constructed after September 2015.

“The EPA’s decision to stop this rule is a step backward for the environment. I will continue to work with other state attorneys general to stand up for crucial air pollution regulations like this one, which are vital to protect the health and safety of District residents,” said Attorney General Racine.

The 2016 rule requires oil and gas companies to monitor sources of emissions at well sites and compressor stations constructed after September 2015 in order to detect air pollutant leaks and repair them at regular intervals. In April 2017, EPA Administrator Pruitt announced that he would halt the 2016 rule. On June 5, the EPA implemented a 90-day administrative stay of the rule’s key requirements for leak detection and repair. The EPA also issued an order to reconsider aspects of the rule, which had been in place for nearly one year.

According to testimony filed by scientific experts in the case, during the 90-day term of the administrative stay alone, more than 5,300 tons of methane, 1,475 tons of VOCs, and 56 tons of hazardous air pollutants will be emitted that would have been prevented had the EPA under Pruitt not put the brakes on the 2016 rule. Pruitt has signaled that the EPA will seek to further stay the rule for an additional 27 months. If that further stay is implemented, experts predict that at least 48,000 tons of methane, 13,000 tons of VOCs, and more than 500 tons of hazardous air pollutants will be emitted that would have been prevented by the rule.

Methane is a particularly powerful agent of climate change. Pound-for-pound, methane warms the climate about 34 times more than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. On a 20-year timeframe, it has about 86 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. According to the EPA, the oil and gas sector is the largest emitter of methane in the U.S., accounting for a third of total U.S. methane emissions.

The motion to intervene, available here, is being led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and includes the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington along with the corporation counsel for the City of Chicago.