EPA Finalizes Updated Cross-State Pollution Rule

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule aimed at reducing the amount of pollution for power plants that is carried by wind from one state to another. This final rule follows a ruling last year from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stating that EPA must rewrite the rule since the first attempt was too wide-ranging. Specifically, the final rule will require power plants in 22 states in the Midwest, South and East Coast to reduce their nitrogen dioxide emissions in order to reduce ground-level ozone exposures. EPA will craft implementation plans for the states should they fail to meet the requirements on their own. The 22 impacted states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

EPA notes that the rule will prevent "over 67,000 asthma attacks, almost 56,000 days of missed work and school, over 240 hospital and emergency room visits, and up to 60 premature deaths." EPA estimates the rule to cost roughly $68 million annually. The final rule becomes effective in May 2017.