EPA is moving to officially bow to the Supreme Court’s decision to freeze its plan to require states to further curb smog-forming pollution.
Late last week, EPA sent an “interim final rule” to the White House regulations office for a customary review, according to a notice on a government tracking website. While the contents have not been made public, the rule will administratively stay the “good neighbor” plan’s implementation in the 23 states originally covered by the plan, EPA air chief Joe Goffman wrote in an Aug. 5 memo about the agency’s response to the high court’s June decision.
The rule will also spell out requirements for coal-fired power plants to ensure that they meet their obligations under two previous rules that remain in effect with the goal of fostering compliance with EPA’s 2008 ground-level ozone standard of 75 parts per billion, Goffman wrote. The plan blocked by the Supreme Court is geared to helping numerous areas meet a subsequent 70 ppb ambient air quality ozone limit issued in 2015.
In the 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court majority said EPA had failed to satisfactorily explain how the latest plan would work after other judicial rulings halted implementation in more than half of the 23 states.
