EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Overturned

An EPA rule attempting to regulate cross-state air pollution was overturned by a federal appeals court this week, reported the New York Times. The issue the EPA is tasked with is regulating air pollution in a state that meets EPA standards yet prevents a downwind state from meeting the standards due to pollution that crosses the state border. The court ruled that the EPA overstepped its authority by trying to require cleanup work by upwind states according to the cost of the reductions so the work would be done in the places where it was easiest to do it. This would ultimately require states to reduce their emissions by more than their actual pollution reduction to downwind states.