State AG Database – New Hampshire

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

• Lawsuits v. Federal Government

• Lawsuits v. Private Actors

• Defense of Federal Standards

• Legislative Inputs

Lawsuits v. Federal Government

New York v. McCarthy (N.Y.S.D. 2017): Multi-state lawsuit challenging EPA failure to act on petition requesting that the agency regulate ozone pollution from sources in upwind states.

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.

New York v. Bodman (S.D.N.Y 2005): Multi-state lawsuit challenging the Department of Energy (DOE)’s failure to create energy efficiency standards for consumer appliances according to the timeline established by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (ECPA).

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.

New York v. American Electric Power Service Corp. (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. 2015): Eighteen states intervened to join EPA’s defense of Clean Power Plan against challenge mounted by other states and industry petitioners.

North Dakota v. EPA (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

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

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.

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.