Judge: Small Ohio polluters can't skirt air rules

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Ohio environmental regulators have violated the federal Clean Air Act by allowing thousands of low-level polluters to go without the latest air-scrubbing technology.

In a decision issued late Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Mark Abel ordered Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Christopher Korleski to lift an exemption that his agency has been giving since 2006 to emitters of 10 tons of pollution or less per year.

Abel agreed with the Sierra Club that Ohio EPA is improperly granting the exemption without the permission of the federal government.

Ohio EPA spokeswoman Carol Hester said the agency was working today to determine what impact the decision would have.