Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0192
Dear EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin,
We the undersigned submit this petition as a comment to the federal register to express our strong opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to approve State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for eight states regarding interstate transport. This proposed rule would allow these upwind states' emissions to travel across state-lines into downwind states, significantly harming public health and hindering those states' attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The Good Neighbor Rule is a core provision of the Clean Air Act, and specifically requires that the federal government work with states to control emissions that will significantly interfere with another state’s ability to attain NAAQS. We strongly oppose this proposed rule to approve these states’ SIPs because they would interfere with downwind states’ ability to meet the NAAQS and risk the health of the public in the process.
The proposed rule would fail to restrain the nitrogen oxide emissions from fossil-fueled power plants from the covered upwind states, which would have severe health impacts on downwind states. The EPA acknowledges that breathing in air with high levels of NO2 and other nitrogen oxides can cause severe health impacts affecting the respiratory system, and long exposure can lead to the development of asthma. According to the EPA's own research, NO2 can react with other chemicals to create ozone, which can worsen or contribute to the development of other lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Those who are most at risk of these negative health impacts are people with asthma, children, and the elderly, and ozone pollution disproportionately harms low income communities and people of color, highlighting the need for federal emission regulation.
The EPA fails to justify how the proposed rule would preserve or improve communities' health. This omission is especially relevant given that the Good Neighbor Rule was projected to provide significant health benefits to communities suffering from upwind states' pollution. In 2023, the EPA stated that the plan would “improve air quality for millions of people living in downwind communities, saving thousands of lives, keeping people out of the hospital, preventing asthma attacks, and reducing sick days.” It was also estimated that this rule would “reduce ozone season NOX pollution by approximately 70,000 tons from power plants and industrial facilities in 2026,” and that in 2026 alone, the final rule would “result in significant public health benefits: preventing approximately 1,300 premature deaths, avoiding more than 2,300 hospital and emergency room visits, cutting asthma symptoms by 1.3 million cases, avoiding 430,000 school absence days, and avoiding 25,000 lost work days.” However, because of the EPA’s new proposed rule, these benefits and achievements will not be attained as was originally projected.
The effects of these emissions are especially potent in Maryland, where many members of CCAN reside. In 2016, the State of Maryland filed a petition requesting that EPA determine that 36 electric generating units (“EGUs”) at 19 separate power plants in five upwind states (Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia), were emitting air pollutants that impeded the state's attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. In support of this petition, a 2018 expert report by George Thurston, Sc.D assessed the extent to which ozone concentrations would have diminished in July, 2011 if the 19 polluting power plants had fully optimized their SCR or SNCR controls. After accounting for missed school days, hospital visits, asthma events, and deaths, the study found that the avoided health impacts would have valued over $750 million. To ensure that the EPA is fulfilling its legal obligation to address cross-state pollution in the absence of adequate SIPs, the EPA must rescind the proposed rule and issue a Federal Implementation Plan that puts community health first.
The proposed rule to approve SIPs for eight states would allow those states to be bad neighbors and disregard the health of other communities, who would struggle additionally to meet the NAAQS. Millions of Americans in downwind states will be significantly impacted by this proposed rule, and their health will be sacrificed so that power plants in upwind states can continue operating without reducing their ozone pollution emissions. We strongly oppose this proposed rule and emphasize the need for a federal plan that corrects these SIPs and ensures that proper regulations for power plant emissions are put in place. The interstate transport plan needs to be updated and strengthened in accordance with the 2015 NAAQS. In doing so, the EPA will fulfill its duty to protect both public health and the environment, which the Good Neighbor Plan originally aimed to do.
Sincerely,
