New Cross-State Rule Will Require Additional Emissions Reductions By Power Plants

A new regulation (RIN:2060AS05) signed into law on September 7 by EPA administrator Gina McCarthy will require power plants in 22 states to further reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides.  The new regulation is built on the same framework as the original Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which aims to address interstate transport under the 1997 ozone standard.  That framework was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014 when the court ruled that the EPA's cross-state rule was based on a reasonable interpretation of the Clean Air Act's "good neighbor" provision, which requires upland states to control emissions that prevent downwind areas from attaining national ambient air quality standards.  The EPA has estimated that the new rule, along with other changes already underway in the power sector, will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 80,000 tons per year.