CA Threatens to Sue EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Regulations

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCBS/AP)  -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said his administration will sue the Environmental Protection Agency if it fails to act more quickly on California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. 

KCBS reporter Mike Pulsipher says Schwarzenegger called EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to say the agency was moving too slowly on California's 2005 request for a waiver to the federal Clean Air Act. The waiver, if granted by the EPA, would allow California to more aggressively regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants. 

``If we don't see quick action from the government, we will sue the U.S. EPA,'' Schwarzenegger said during a luncheon speech in Beverly Hills, addressing the Milken Institute's annual global conference. " 

In the letter, Schwarzenegger demands that the EPA act on California's waiver request within 180 days. 

The EPA had delayed acting on California's request because the agency maintained it did not have the authority to regulate the gases that contribute to global warming. However, the state's request was revived earlier this month when the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the EPA does have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, a position that had long been rejected by the Bush administration. 

Responding Wednesday to Schwarzenegger's letter, EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood said the agency was moving forward with California's request. She said a final decision will be made at the end of the comment period. "The agency expects the federal registry to be published early next week. A hearing is scheduled for May 22nd and the comment period will end June 15th," she told KCBS.

The 5-4 Supreme Court decision did not require the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. But it does say the agency must show that carbon dioxide emissions are not a danger to public health if it chooses not regulate them under the Clean Air Act. 

The committee's chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she expected the EPA to make a decision by the middle of the summer and would call agency officials back before her panel after the comment period had closed. 

California's waiver is needed for the state to implement a 2002 state law that would require automakers to reduce emissions by 25 percent from cars and light trucks and 18 percent from sport utility vehicles starting with the 2009 model year.