The Environmental Protection Agency is warning states that the federal government is ready to impose smog rules on them if they don’t comply on their own.
The agency updated its once-embattled Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which seeks to curb downwind pollution from one state to another. The rules when issued were considered a threat to power plants, forcing many companies to shutter plants or curtail operations. The rules went through a rigorous court fight, in which EPA ultimately won.
Tuesday’s updates would “reduce summertime emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from power plants that contribute to downwind ozone problems” in the eastern half of the U.S., the EPA said.
The updated rule will cost states $23 million a year beginning in 2017, the agency said, arguing that the rule’s benefits of between $700 million and $1.2 billion greatly outweigh the cost.
Tuesday’s announcement also includes a federal plan that states can opt for if they don’t want to develop their own compliance plan. Typically, federal plans are more rigorous and can cost more to implement, behooving states to develop their own plans.
The EPA said that under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provisions, states develop their own plans to comply with the downwind pollution standards, “while EPA plays a backstop role by issuing federal implementation plans (FIPs) if a state fails to submit an approvable plan.”
“Today’s proposal provides the [plans] that would apply if EPA’s backstop obligation is triggered,” the agency said. “States may choose to have their emissions sources controlled by the [federal plan] rather than developing their own plan.”
Imposing a federal plan on states has become a common theme from EPA in enforcing air regulations, especially its climate change rules for power plants. EPA will begin a two-day public hearing Wednesday on its federal plan for imposing rules on states to reduce greenhouse gases from power plants. Critics say states opposing the climate rules in court also are working on plans to comply to avoid the EPA forcing a federal plan on them.
Tuesday’s cross-state ozone update comes after the agency recently imposed the most stringent ozone rules in history that critics say will place national parks out of compliance.
