EPA ‘neighbor’ rule cuts downwind pollution by power plants

By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new “good neighbor” rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can’t control. Nearly two dozen states will have to cut harmful industrial emissions of nitrogen oxide and other pollutants to improve air quality for millions of people living in downwind communities. EPA says the final rule, which was issued Wednesday, will save thousands of lives, keep tens of thousands of people out of the hospital and prevent millions of asthma attacks. But the National Mining Association blasted the rule as part of an ongoing effort by the EPA to force coal-fired power plants to close.