Oklahoma’s plan to meet federal smog regulations has been in limbo since the EPA rejected it in 2023 and the state sued in response. That case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments Tuesday.
The federal Good Neighbor Plan aims to curb ozone pollution that causes and exacerbates lung problems like asthma. The EPA says reducing those emissions would save thousands of lives and improve health and quality of life for millions living downwind of industrial smog sources.
The plan required states to draft their solutions to comply. Otherwise, the EPA would require states to take a prescribed one-size-fits-all approach.
Oklahoma submitted a proposal to stop its smog from floating down to Texas, but the EPA rejected it in 2023 for being too lax.
According to the EPA, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality’s proposal did not contain any permanent and enforceable emissions controls. Federal reviewers said there wasn’t sufficient evidence that the state had already implemented all cost-effective options like the proposal claimed. The EPA said it would implement a federal implementation plan instead of an approved state proposal.
The EPA released that plan on Mar. 15, 2023. The next day, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced he had filed a lawsuit against the EPA for rejecting Oklahoma’s implementation plan, calling the federal plan an “overreach of the first order.”
The case was transferred from Oklahoma’s 10th Circuit Court to the U.S. Supreme Court after the EPA argued it has national applications. SCOTUS already paused enforcement of the Good Neighbor Plan while it works through several challenges to the policy.
The Court heard arguments about whether the case should be heard by SCOTUS or back in the 10th Circuit on Tuesday.
“I mean, gosh, if anything has nationwide impact, it's got to be air pollution, because it travels,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said.
“Well, the whole statute is about air pollution, but with respect to the Good Neighbor provision, EPA made clear that interstate ozone transport is a quote ‘regional scale pollution problem,’” Mithun Mansinghani, an attorney representing Oklahoma, argued back.
“Yeah, but it crosses the country in ways that don't respect our jurisdictional boundaries between circuits,” Gorsuch said.
It’s unclear when the court will announce a decision.
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