WASHINGTON – Twelve states, including Maine, and several Northeast cities sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to try to block the Bush administration’s changes to the Clean Air Act.

EPA’s new rule makes it easier to upgrade utilities, refineries and other industrial facilities without installing additional pollution controls.

The rule, which was proposed last December and signed by EPA’s administrator in August, was made final Monday. It will take effect in two months, and states have up to three years to comply.

EPA said in a statement it does not believe this rule will result in significant changes in emissions and that it “preserves the public health protections” under law.

However, attorneys general for the 12 states – New York, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin – and legal officers for New York City, Washington, D.C., New Haven and several other cities in Connecticut, said the new regulations will weaken protections for the environment and public health.

They argued that only Congress can make sweeping changes to such a bedrock law.

“We are not going to sit by quietly and allow the energy interests in this country to receive special treatment while so many of our children and elderly are needlessly suffering from respiratory problems that are, in essence, brought on by bad environmental policy,” Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said.

The rule broadens EPA’s interpretation of “routine maintenance” for older plants. Before the rule change, operators who did anything more than routine maintenance were required to add more pollution-cutting devices.

Under the new rule, industrial facilities avoid paying for expensive emissions-cutting devices for up to 20 percent of the replacement costs for key equipment.

“It is indeed ironic that this agency would try so hard to undermine one of our nation’s most important health and environmental protection laws,” said Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe. “With the help of the court, we will put a stop to this outrageous effort.”