FILE - This April 28, 2009 file photo shows smog covering downtown Los Angeles. In its first major regulation since the election, the Obama administration will impose a new air quality standard that reduces by 20 percent the maximum amount of soot released into the air from smokestacks, diesel trucks and other sources of pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to announce the new standard on Friday, meeting a court deadline in a lawsuit by 11 states and public health groups. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
The three-judge panel ruled Friday that the EPA regulated soot of a certain size under weaker cleanup requirements than it should have.
The environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, had challenged two rules dating back to the George W. Bush administration. The court sent the rules back to the EPA with instructions to strengthen them.
Soot, or fine particulate matter, is microscopic pollution released from smokestacks, diesel trucks and other sources. Breathing it can cause lung and heart problems, contributing to heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks.
Two of the three judges were appointed by Republican presidents, the third by a Democrat.
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