EPA proposal lets upwind states off the hook for ozone pollution, shifting burdens to downwind communities
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal to approve upwind states’ plans addressing their interstate transport obligations under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provision for the 2015 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog. If finalized, the proposal risks allowing upwind states that contribute to downwind ozone pollution to avoid meaningful emissions reductions, perpetuating poor air quality and shifting the cost of compliance onto downwind states and their communities.
“The Clean Air Act’s good neighbor provision exists to ensure upwind states take responsibility for the pollution they impose on downwind communities,” said Hayden Hashimoto, attorney at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “EPA should not be rubber-stamping plans that do nothing to curb emissions harming neighboring states, effectively giving upwind polluters a get-out-of-jail-free card. If finalized, this proposal would prolong an inequitable system in which downwind residents bear higher pollution levels and downwind industries face increasingly costly compliance measures, while upwind polluters get to avoid even low-cost steps, such as running existing controls more consistently to reduce their impacts.”
The good neighbor provision prohibits emissions from upwind states that contribute significantly to downwind nonattainment or problems maintaining air quality standards. The agency previously determined emissions from five of the states in this proposal (Alabama, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Nevada) contribute significantly to high levels of smog in downwind areas, disapproved their state plans as inadequate, and promulgated a federal plan to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx)—an ozone precursor—from power plants and other industrial emitters in order to improve air quality in downwind states. For the other states (Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, and Tennessee), EPA had proposed to determine that their emissions also contribute significantly to downwind ozone pollution problems.
“We urge the EPA not to move forward with this proposal, and instead to fully implement the good neighbor provision to address the persistent problem of interstate ozone pollution and downwind nonattainment,” Hashimoto added.
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About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With 30 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
