(CN) — Effective Aug. 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will temporarily shelve strict new air quality requirements for a handful of states while litigation challenging the requirements plays out in court, according to a note published in the Federal Register Monday. The stay halts the application of the EPA’s so-called “Good Neighbors Plan,” established in 2015 as an element of the national ambient air quality standards.
The plan was finalized in March 2023 and targets 23 states the EPA has found liable for downwind pollution affecting neighboring states. The plan is an attempt to curb as much as 70,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions from affecting “downwind communities” by reducing or mitigating pollutants from power plants and other industries during the summer months.
Such emissions are largely responsible for ground-level ozone, more commonly known as smog, and the EPA believes implementation of the new rules will have a net benefit of some $14 billion per year as communities experience relief from smog-related respiratory issues and lung diseases. If the plan is fully implemented, the EPA estimates it will prevent approximately 1,300 premature deaths annually by 2026, along with more than 2,300 hospital or emergency room visits, 1.3 million cases of asthma, 25,000 lost work days and 430,000 school absence days.
In a statement this past March, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said air pollution isn’t inhibited by state lines, and the “good neighbor” rules “will help our state partners meet stronger air quality health standards beyond borders, saving lives and improving public health in impacted communities across the United States.” The EPA suggested smog disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities and people of color.
As the EPA began to reject state air pollution plans that did not meet the requirements of the new plan, it was challenged by attorneys general in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. The rule has since been stayed by separate orders in the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth circuits. Monday’s notice will stay the plan’s requirements in those six states only, while also revising an emissions allowance trading program applicable to the same states.
After a victory in the Fifth Circuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said ”the EPA’s disapproval would have allowed the Biden administration to force onto Texas an overly burdensome federal implementation plan.”
“It’s vital that the decisions about stewarding our natural environment and our natural resources are made here in Texas, not in Washington, D.C.,” Paxton said in a statement. “This case will continue, but the court made the right decision initially to ensure that the EPA doesn’t force upon Texans a new, unlawful plan filled with onerous regulations.”
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