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Washington, D.C.—WildEarth Guardians late yesterday filed suit to secure stronger clean air safeguards in some of the United States’ most dangerously polluted communities.

“The EPA is letting states delay cleaning up dangerous air pollution, effectively giving Utah and other pro-polluter states a free pass to disregard public health,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director. “This isn’t just reckless, it’s illegal. It’s time for EPA to put clean air first.”

Filed together with a coalition of public health and environmental groups on behalf of Earthjustice, the suit challenges the failure of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure states are cleaning up dangerous levels of particulate pollution in communities throughout the nation,including in Utah, Arizona, California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington.

In Salt Lake City, Utah and neighboring Wasatch Front communities,particulate pollution levels regularly exceed health limits, especially during the wintertime when inversions trap soot, heavy metals, and other particles in the air near the ground. Just in 2014,particulate pollution levels from Provo north to Logan, Utah exceeded health limits dozens of times.

The Wasatch Front’s particulate pollution is so bad that it’s been declared in violation of federal standards and designated“nonattainment,” or a “dirty air” area.

Under the Clean Air Act, states like Utah were required to submit plans to clean up their particulate pollution in nonattainment areas by2011. Unfortunately, no state met that deadline and in a rule adopted by the EPA in June, states were off the hook for the lapse.

States now have until the end of 2014 to submit clean-up plans, effectively delaying the adoption of safeguards needed to keep particulate pollution in check.

Utah has already dragged its feet in cleaning up air pollution along the Wasatch Front. The State has yet to submit a complete clean-up plan to the EPA and has indicated that clean air will not actually be achieved until 2019 or later.

The suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.Circuit.