Ten AGs Filed Amicus Brief to Defend EPA’s Authority to Review State Implementation Plans for “Good Neighbor” Cross-State Air Pollution Rules

AUGUST 22, 2023

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 10 attorneys general in an amicus brief urging the court to reject a claim brought by Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have authority to review those states’ implementation of federally-required reductions in air pollution that causes smog. These requirements are part of the Clean Air Act’s Good Neighbor Provision. In their brief—which was submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Texas v. EPA—the AGs explained that EPA’s authority is based in the fact that Congress created these requirements to address interstate air pollution, specifically in cases where power plant and other emissions from “upwind” states affected the ability of “downwind” states to adhere to air quality standards. The AGs urged the court to reject the challenge.