In a 5-4 decision issued Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to temporarily block key air pollution regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Good Neighbor Plan.
Ohio and several other states challenged the regulations in court. The Supreme Court decision means upwind states, like Ohio, aren’t required to reduce harmful ozone emissions that move across state lines.
Brad Mank is an environmental law professor at the University of Cincinnati. He says the Ohio v. EPA decision will continue to worsen air quality, especially on the East Coast.
“In the short-term, this is a decision environmentalists won't like,” Mank said. “It's not good for the environment and it does show a kind of general trend that the current Supreme Court doesn't really like to give deference to agencies.”
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The Good Neighbor Plan sought to enforce 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
A lot of the harmful air pollution in the Tri-State came from the now-closed William H. Zimmer Power Station and W.C. Beckjord Power Station, according to a report from the Ohio EPA. Wind would blow the emissions from the Ohio fossil-fuel-burning power plants to states like New York and Connecticut, Mank said.
The Good Neighbor Plan required other industrial operations like steel mills and cement manufacturers to take pollution reduction measures too.
“Every delay means that there's more pollution because these rules would be stricter,” Mank said.
Exposure to ozone can lead to respiratory issues like asthma and lung disease, according to the EPA. The agency said last year that complying with the Good Neighbor Plan would cost companies, but it would yield $13 billion in benefits for the U.S. annually.
Mank said there is still progress happening to better air quality outside of regulation.
“There is this kind of longer-term shift away from fossil fuels to renewables,” Mank said.
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The Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily block the Good Neighbor Plan will send the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.