Category: EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency, under the Clean Air Act, requires states to work with the EPA to address the interstate transport of air pollution. Under the “Good Neighbor Plan,” the EPA requires each state to implement – as part of its State Implementation Plan – regulations that will reduce emissions, which prevent downward states from attaining or maintaining National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The Act further requires the EPA to backstop any state actions that it does not approve or to develop Federal Implementation Plans …

In February 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument on various emergency stay applications addressing whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can implement its “Good Neighbor Plan” (the Plan) to reduce cross-state pollution. The court will focus on whether the Plan unreasonably limits emissions and whether the EPA properly disapproved of alternative state emission-reduction plans.

Opponents argue that the Plan arrogates the states’ authority to control emissions and air pollution. They also assert that its unworkable, confusing emissions standards will force them to …