EPA seeks to toughen curbs on downwind pollution

Texas among 23 states affected by the proposal

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency proposed tougher new limits on Tuesday on smokestack emissions from nearly two dozen states that burden downwind areas with air pollution from power plants they can’t control.

At the same time, the EPA moved to remove two states — South Carolina and Florida — from the “good neighbor” rules, saying they don’t contribute significant amounts of smog to other states.

The EPA’s proposal follows a federal appeals court ruling this summer that upheld the agency’s right to impose the cleanair standards, which block states from adding to air pollution in other localities.

The rule applies to Texas and other states, mostly in the South and Midwest that contribute to soot and smog along the East Coast.

Under the EPA’s proposal, states would have to comply with air quality standards for ozone, or smog, set by the George W. Bush administration in 2008. Current rules are based on pollution standards developed in the late 1990s.

“This update will help protect the health and lives of millions of Americans by reducing exposure to ozone pollution, which is linked to serious public health effects including reduced lung function, asthma … and early death from respiratory and cardiovascular causes,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a statement.

The proposal reinforces the obligations states have to address air pollution that is carried across state lines, McCarthy said.

The EPA proposal came as Republicans in Congress moved to block President Barack Obama’s plan to force steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants.

Republicans were expected to force a vote late Tuesday on resolutions challenging the powerplant rules. The measures were being brought up under the little-used Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to block executive actions it considers onerous with simple majority votes. The maneuver is subject to a presidential veto and has rarely been successful.

The EPA proposal on cross-state pollution would affect power plant emissions in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The agency said it will take public comments for at least two months before finalizing the rule next year.