Press Release: 7/22/2026
AG Campbell Wins Court Order Requiring EPA to Implement Life-Saving Soot Standards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
7/21/2026
BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell alongside a coalition of 11 states, the District of Columbia, and two local governments secured a court order requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement its lifesaving 2024 Clean Air Act rule that strengthens national air ambient quality standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), commonly known as soot.
In a decision issued by the Northern District of California, the court granted the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, requiring EPA to move forward with implementing the updated soot standards. The court also rejected EPA’s request to pause the litigation while it reconsidered the rule. The court’s decision follows another recent win in the D.C. Circuit upholding the standards against an industry and state challenge.
“Clean air is essential to the health of every Massachusetts resident, and this victory ensures EPA cannot simply ignore its legal obligation to protect people from dangerous pollution,” said AG Campbell. “Soot pollution—like the wildfire smoke we’ve endured this week—contributes to asthma, heart disease, and premature deaths, and communities that have historically borne the greatest burden deserve the protections Congress required. My office will continue holding EPA accountable for enforcing the laws that protect our health and our environment.”
Although Massachusetts currently meets both previous and updated federal soot standards, residents are still exposed to harmful particulate pollution, including pollution carried into the Commonwealth from upwind states. In 2019 alone, particulate matter exposure was responsible for approximately 2,780 adult deaths in Massachusetts, including more than 1,600 from cardiovascular disease and more than 2,100 from lung cancer. That same year, soot exposure contributed to more than 300 low-weight births, more than 15,000 pediatric asthma cases, and an estimated loss of nearly 2 million Performance IQ points among children under the age of 10 years, or more than 2 IQ points for the average child, which impairs the school performance and graduation rates of affected children.
Soot is a deadly air pollutant emitted from a variety of sources including combustion-engine vehicles, factories, and construction sites, as well as from wildfires. These pollutants are typically 30 times smaller than the width of an average human hair. Because of the particles’ small size, once inhaled, soot can penetrate the lower parts of lungs, infect the bloodstream, and damage other organs, leading to myriad health problems including shortened lifespans, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and cancer. These health effects fall disproportionately on low-income communities and communities of color.
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to set NAAQS for several pollutants, including fine particulate matter, at a level that protects public health and welfare. When NAAQS are updated, the Clean Air Act gives EPA a specific deadline to designate areas of the country that are in violation of the updated standard as “nonattainment.” This designation provides key support for State programs to reduce dangerous pollution levels to safer levels. EPA missed this deadline, leading to the multistate suit. The court decision requires EPA to issue the designations.
Reductions in soot are associated with decreases in the risk of mortality and increases in life expectancy. In 2024, EPA strengthened the soot NAAQS based on overwhelming scientific evidence. According to its own estimates, EPA has reported that the first year alone of full attainment of the 2024 NAAQS will result in significant public health benefits, including avoiding 4,500 premature deaths, 2,000 emergency room visits, 5,700 new cases of asthma, 800,000 cases of asthma symptoms, 290,000 lost workdays, and 1,000 hospital admissions for Alzheimer’s/Parkinson’s diseases. The value of these and other health benefits would outweigh the estimated costs of implementation by $46 billion.
Joining AG Campell in filing this lawsuit were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as Harris County, Texas, and the City of New York.
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