State AG Database – Maryland

The following is a list of actions taken by the Maryland Attorney General to ensure that environmental laws are fully implemented and enforced:

• Lawsuits v. Federal Government

• Lawsuits v. Private Actors

• Defense of Federal Standards

• Administrative Proceedings

• Legislative Inputs

• Other Interventions

Lawsuits v. Federal Government

New York v. Jackson (D.D.C. 2012): Multi-state lawsuit to force EPA to comply with Clean Air Act requirement to update and revise National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) every five years.

American Farm Bureau Federation v. EPA (D.C. Cir. 2009): Multi-state lawsuit challenging the adequacy of EPA’s 2006 revision to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) regulating soot pollution under the Clean Air Act.

New Jersey et al. v. EPA (D.C. Cir. 2008): Multi-state challenge the EPA’s decision to migrate mercury regulations from section 112 to section 111 of the Clean Air Act.

New York v. EPA (D.C. Cir. 2006): Multi-state challenge to 2002 EPA rules modifying maintenance exceptions to New Source Review.

New York v. U.S. EPA (D.C. Cir. 2005): Multi-state challenge to 2002 EPA rule creating and modifying standards for the New Source Review process.

Lawsuits v. Private Actors

Settlement with Volkswagen for Emissions Defeat Devices (2016): Settlement of consumer protection claims raised by a multi-state coalition of state attorneys general against Volkswagen for selling vehicles equipped with “defeat device” software intended to circumvent emissions standards and concealing this software from regulators and the public.

Settlement, Connecticut v. Hyundai Motor Co. (Conn. Super. Ct. 2016): Multi-state settlement of consumer-protection claims against car manufacturers that overstated their vehicles’ fuel efficiency.

New York v. American Electric Power Service Corp., 2007 WL 539536 (S.D. Ohio, 2007): Multi-state litigation under Clean Air Act alleging violations of New Source Review permitting process to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in coal-fired power plants.

Defense of Federal Standards

West Virginia v. EPA (D.C. Cir. Oct 23, 2015): Multi-state intervention to join EPA’s defense of Clean Power Plan against challenge mounted by other states and industry petitioners.

Michigan v. EPA (2015): Fifteen states intervened in lawsuit to defend EPA standards regulating mercury and other air pollutants from the power sector.

North Dakota v. United States Environmental Protection Agency (D.C. Cir. 2015): Eighteen states filed amicus brief in support of EPA in litigation challenging New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) regulating carbon dioxide emission from new and modified power plants.

Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA (2014): Multiple states intervened in lawsuit to defend EPA rules concerning regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary and mobile sources.

EPA v. EME Homer City Generation (2014): Ten states intervened in lawsuit to support EPA rule on cross-state air pollution against state and industry challenge.

Administrative Proceedings

Agreement for DOE to Update Energy Efficiency Standards (2013): Multi-state coalition reached agreement with U.S Department of Energy establishing timetable for updating federal efficiency standards for energy-intensive consumer products.

Legislative Inputs

Congressional Testimony on Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Amendments, Pub. L. 114-182 (2016): Letters and testimony providing recommendations on federal legislation amending the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to revise the process and requirements for evaluating and determining whether regulatory control of a chemical is warranted.

Other Interventions

Green 20 State AG Coalition (2016): Group of 17 State AGs and Former Vice President Al Gore announced a coalition of states committed to taking creative steps to combat climate change, including investigations into fossil fuel companies and climate-related disclosures.