The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a federal plan that would restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can’t control.
The plan announced Friday is intended to help more than two dozen states meet “good neighbor” obligations under the federal Clean Air Act.
States that contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog, are required to submit plans ensuring that coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites don't contribute significantly to air pollution in other states. In cases where a state has not submitted a “good neighbor” plan — or where EPA disapproves a state plan — the federal plan would take effect to ensure downwind states are protected, the EPA is now proposing.
