Let the lawsuits fly.

Byline: The Register-Guard

If ever a federal agency deserved to be sued for failing to serve the American public, it's the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has stonewalled California for nearly two years on its request for a waiver allowing the state to impose stricter limits on vehicle emissions.

As a result of the EPA's intransigence, California and 11 other states, including Oregon, have been unable to put in place stringent tailpipe emissions standards that are part of a burgeoning state-by-state approach to combat global warming.

On Tuesday, the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene filed notice that it will sue the EPA if it doesn't grant California's waiver and clear the way for Oregon's plan to cut emissions. Meanwhile, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has warned the EPA he may sue as early as next month.

California adopted the nation's first vehicle emissions standards in the 1960s before Congress approved the Clean Air Act in 1970. Because California's standards predated those of the federal government, the federal law permits the state to craft its own requirements - and other states to adopt them, as long as they are at least as tough as national regulations. Oregon, as well as 10 other states, have approved California's standards, which require a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases from vehicle tailpipes by 2016, starting with the 2009 model year.

All that's required for Oregon's new tailpipe standards to take effect is for the EPA to grant California's request. That should have happened long ago; the EPA has granted more than 40 waiver requests over the past 30 years. It's increasingly clear that the Bush administration is engaging in "death-by-delay" tactics.

EPA Administrator Steven Johnson recently told Congress he hopes to make a decision on the waiver request by the end of the year, saying his agency needs time to sort through the 100,000 comments it has received on California's request.

It's amusing to see the Bush administration suddenly concerned about divining public opinion on an environmental issue. This is the same bureaucratic gang that didn't hold a single public hearing before overturning the immensely popular roadless rule, which President Clinton issued after conducting 600 public hearings and receiving 2.2 million comments, the vast majority of them positive.

If the EPA doesn't approve California's waiver request soon, it may force Oregon and other states adopting the standards to delay their application until 2010, possibly later. Anyone paying attention to the accelerating physical, economic, biological and social effects linked to climate change understands that further delay is unacceptable.

The EPA should promptly grant the waiver and step aside as states go it alone in the absence of federal leadership on global warming. If it doesn't, let the lawsuits fly.