The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision blocking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing a key rule restricting air pollution in nearly a dozen states.
The EPA’s “good neighbor” rule aims to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that pollute downwind areas with smog-causing pollution.
The big picture: Three energy-producing states – Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia – the steel industry, and other groups challenged the rule, calling it costly and ineffective.
- The ruling is on hold in a dozen other states due to legal challenges.
- The conservative-led court’s decision is seen as another blow to federal regulations under the Trump administration.
- The rule aims to protect downwind states that receive unwanted air pollution from other states.
Driving the news: It requires states that contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog, to submit plans ensuring that coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites do not significantly add to air pollution in other states.
- The EPA has stated that power-plant emissions dropped by 18% in 2023 in the 10 states where it has been allowed to enforce its rule, which was finalized last year.
- Opponents of the rule, including some Republicans and business groups, denounce it as an example of government overreach.
- Supporters of the rule argue that it is critical to address interstate air pollution and to ensure that all Americans have access to clean air.
