[JURIST] Officials from 13 states, the District of Columbia, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District filed a lawsuit [press release] Monday against the US Environmental Protection Agency [official website] "for failing to mandate lower levels of disease-causing soot in the air." The lawsuit alleges that the EPA is failing to protect the environment and the public health by ignoring "overwhelming scientific evidence and the advice of its own experts" when setting standards for particulate matter [EPA materials] and that the EPA is in violation of the Clean Air Act [EPA materials].

The states participating in the lawsuit are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. AP has more.