Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
St. Louis, MO -- In a harmful decision for communities in Missouri and across the country, last week the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals halted a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to disapprove Missouri’s inadequate plan to address smog pollution, threatening the implementation of a national plan to address cross-state air pollution.
The Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” provision requires Missouri to submit a plan explaining how it will avoid sending smog-causing pollution into other states, but Missouri submitted a plan without any permanent and enforceable pollution reductions.
In March, EPA accordingly took action to reduce harmful smog pollution by finalizing the agency’s Good Neighbor Plan for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The federal program will protect residents in dozens of states who are unknowingly and unwillingly subjected to smog pollution from power plants and industrial facilities in other states, often hundreds of miles away.
However, because rejection of insufficient state plans is a prior step toward implementing the Good Neighbor Plan, the court’s decision slows efforts to protect communities from ozone pollution.
In response, Missouri Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign Jenn DeRose released the following statement:
“Here in St. Louis, we’re breathing in our fourth straight day of dangerously high ozone levels. Meanwhile, Missouri’s Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, took to Twitter to celebrate this disastrous decision as the children in our community had to start their summer with a higher risk of coughing, asthma attacks, and chest pain. Because our state regulators and utilities refuse to play by the rules Congress established and be a good neighbor, the EPA's ozone plan is critical so Missourians and downwind communities can breathe easier."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.