Good Neighbors Delayed Are Good Neighbors Denied

Last Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that EPA violated the Clean Air Act in failing to impose deadlines on upwind states violating the CAA's Good Neighbor provisions. The Court concluded that, where downwind states face significant consequences in not meeting statutory deadlines to attain National Ambient Air Quality Standards, but don't control their own fate because upwind states are contributing significantly to the downwind states' nonattainment, the statute requires that upwind states must comply with their Good Neighbor obligations on the same schedule.

First, the Court summarized its prior decision on this subject, in North Carolina v. EPA, which addressed EPA's prior interstate rule: