Supreme Court to review EPA’s pollution regulations

The Supreme Court will review the Biden administration’s plan to limit smog-forming pollutants from power plants and other industrial facilities that cause problems for their downwind neighbors in other states.

Several states had asked the high court to put the plan on hold while legal battles continue. After weeks of consideration, the justices said Wednesday they will instead consider the reasonableness of the Environmental Protection Agency regulations and the agency’s disapproval of state plans. Arguments will be held in the twoweek period that begins Feb. 20.

The EPA’s effort to impose stricter limits in 23 states whose plans the agency deemed insufficient has had a rough go in lower courts. Twelve states have won orders delaying the EPA action.

Still, the administration told the Supreme Court there was no reason to put the whole program on hold while the legal battles continue.

“Staying the [program’s] implementation would significantly harm the public interest,” Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar told the court. “It would delay efforts to control pollution that contributes to unhealthy air in downwind states, which is contrary to Congress’s express directive that sources in upwind states must assume responsibility for their contributions to emissions levels in downwind states.”

The EPA’s move to cut pollution from power plants, factories and other sources targeted 23 states in the West and the Midwest that have histories of releasing pollution that drifts across state lines, affecting millions of people in eastern states.

But the updated air pollution regulation, known as the “good neighbor” rule, was controversial. Its tighter pollution limits meant coal and natural gas power plants would have to clean up their emissions, most likely by installing new and potentially expensive technology.