2025 Update
As part of the prior administration’s approach to implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS, EPA denied multiple State Implementation Plans (SIPs) and issued a multistate Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) that set stringent NOx emission standards for non-EGUs including industrial boilers at many manufacturing facilities (such as iron and steel mills, chemical plants, and pulp, paper and paperboard mills). Although the Supreme Court stayed the standards (and therefore delayed the need to install expensive controls on many sources by May 1, 2026), further developments in this area could provide more durable relief. EPA has committed to reconsidering the GNR and may revisit the inclusion of industrial sources in the rule, the scope of states included in the rule, and the degree of emission reductions needed from each state. States are also likely to take regulatory actions to ensure EPA can approve their SIPs.
Original Post
On March 15, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final Good Neighbor Plan, which secures significant reductions in ozone-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) from power plants and industrial facilities. This action will save thousands of lives and result in cleaner air and better health for millions of people living in downwind communities.
The Good Neighbor Plan ensures that 23 states meet the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” requirements by reducing pollution that significantly contributes to problems attaining and maintaining EPA’s health-based air quality standard for ground-level ozone (or “smog”), known as the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), in downwind states.
See https://www.epa.gov/csapr/good-neighbor-plan-2015-ozone-naaqs
