EPA finalizes ‘good neighbor’ rule to limit cross-state pollution from coal plants
Jeremy Beaman
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The Environmental Protection Agency finalized new regulations to limit downwind smog pollution from coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities under the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provision.
EPA’s good neighbor rule is the latest in a line of regulations advanced by the Biden administration to crack down on soot, nitrogen oxide, and other pollutants emitted from coal plants to improve air quality, as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change.
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Beginning this year, electricity generators will have to comply with more stringent nitrogen oxide control levels, and further reductions will be phased in over several years starting in 2024. The new rule seeks to help enable compliance by allowing generators to participate in a modified emissions trading program, an EPA official said.
“By and large, we have set the requirements so that will either see installation of NOx control equipment or full-time operation of that equipment where it’s already installed,” the official told reporters.
The good neighbor rule extends to pollution from new and existing facilities, such as iron and steel mills, across 20 states and sets nitrogen oxide emissions control requirements at those beginning in 2026.
“This is also about fairness,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “Some states have done all they can do to control ozone pollution, and their counterparts that are up-wind are being asked to do the same, to be respectful of those state boundaries and not push pollution across state boundaries.”
EPA estimates that its final rule will result in significant public health benefits by preventing approximately 1,300 premature deaths and avoiding 25,000 lost work days.
President Joe Biden‘s environmental agenda prioritizes improved air quality, and the Biden administration seeks to ultimately move the power sector toward phasing out coal-fired electricity generation.
Coal interests and some lawmakers have warned the good neighbor rule will lead to more coal retirements and further threaten grid reliability.
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Utilities are retiring coal-fired power plants in large numbers for various reasons, including the costs of updating aging stations and regulations, as well as reducing carbon emissions.
“The U.S. coal fleet continues to play an outsized role in providing dispatchable fuel diversity, fuel security and ramping up power supply during periods of surging demand when other sources of power cannot,” the National Mining Association said in a statement. “EPA’s willful disregard of the repercussions of its decisions on Americans and on our energy future is plainly irresponsible.”