U.S. EPA Not To Impose Stricter Ozone Controls On Upwind States

The U.S. EPA determined in December 2018 that it would not impose additional pollution control requirements on power plants in 20 upwind states whose emissions allegedly cause ozone nonattainment in downwind states in the northeast. Six eastern states led by New York are suing the EPA arguing it should have required stricter controls from upwind states to stop nitrogen ozides from blowing across state lines and preventing New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey from meeting federal air quality limits for ozone causing pollutants. The EPA has countered that additional pollution controls on the upwind states would achieve little extra emission reductions at too high of a cost.