{"id":23075,"date":"2023-03-28T16:11:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T21:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=23075"},"modified":"2023-03-28T16:15:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T21:15:18","slug":"epas-good-neighbor-rule-will-protect-millions-of-people-from-poorly-controlled-smokestack-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2023\/03\/28\/epas-good-neighbor-rule-will-protect-millions-of-people-from-poorly-controlled-smokestack-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA\u2019s Good Neighbor Rule will protect millions of people from poorly-controlled smokestack pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo(This post was co-authored by EDF analyst Jolie Villegas)<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just finalized its Good Neighbor Plan this month and that means millions of people in downwind states will be protected from unhealthy smokestack pollution that blows across state lines.<\/p>\n

The new plan will significantly reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution from fossil fuel power plants and industrial sources in 23 states.<\/p>\n

EPA\u2019s action addresses an urgent problem: NOx pollution from power plants without modern pollution controls. As depicted below, well over half of the NOx pollution from coal units in states covered by the Good Neighbor Plan is from coal units without modern pollution controls.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Graphic: EDF\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Good Neighbor Plan controls harmful interstate pollution <\/strong><\/p>\n

Power plants and numerous industrial sources emit harmful NOx pollution when fossil fuels are burned. NOx is a key ingredient in ground-level ozone, what is widely known as \u201csmog.\u201d Smog damages people\u2019s lungs and is linked to asthma attacks and other serious lung and heart diseases. Smog is especially harmful to children, the elderly, and people who are active outdoors.<\/p>\n

According to the American Lung Association, in 2020, more than 122 million people lived in counties with unhealthy smog levels. That\u2019s 3 in every 8 people in America.<\/p>\n

Wind can transport smog-forming NOx far from the pollution source and across state borders. The Clean Air Act\u2019s Good Neighbor safeguards are designed to address this problem and protect people in downwind states from pollution they can\u2019t control. EPA\u2019s just-finalized plan reduces NOx pollution from smokestacks in 23 upwind states, which will help downwind states meet their clean air obligations under the health-based 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone.<\/p>\n

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to control interstate pollution<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Clean Air Act requires that upwind states eliminate emissions that significantly contribute to unhealthy levels of pollution in downwind states. If an upwind state fails to meet these Good Neighbor obligations through an adequate state plan, the Clean Air Act requires that the EPA publish a Federal Implementation Plan to safeguard the millions of people who live in downwind states.<\/p>\n

EPA has a long history of protecting people under the Good Neighbor provision of the Clean Air Act across Republican and Democratic administrations, including the NOx SIP Call (1998), the Clean Air Interstate Rule (2005), the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (2011), and updates to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule in 2016 and 2021. (A unanimous panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently upheld the latest update in the face of a challenge from some coal-based power companies. You can read more about that here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In the Good Neighbor Plan, EPA is requiring emissions reductions from power plants and other industrial sources through a phased-in approach:<\/p>\n