States Wage Fights Over Air Transport Ahead Of New EPA Interstate Rule

摘要

Northeastern states are waging case-by-case fights with upwind counterparts over the adequacy of state-specific plans for mitigating interstate air pollution transport, seeking emissions reductions ahead of EPA's plan to propose a rule in mid-2014 that will address a federal appeals court ruling scrapping its most recent interstate air policy. However, air regulators in the upwind states counter it is too early for other states to try and claim their upwind neighbors must cut emissions to meet a "good neighbor" provision of the Clean Air Act that requires states to take steps to avoid hindering neighboring states from attaining EPA's air standards. The sources say the agency will be reassessing states' good neighbor mandates for next year's proposed rule, and any action before then is premature.