Texas is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its plan to control smog that drifts into other states from industrial facilities like power plants.
The federal agencyโsย โgood neighborโ rule, which was announced in March, requires Texas and 22 other states to cut emissions from industrial sources such as natural gas pipelines and chemical plants that contribute to ozone pollution in neighboring states. The rule is aimed at helping states comply with the Clean Air Act.
Ground-level ozone, a component of smog, irritates and inflames the lungs, making it difficult and painful for some people to breathe. Ozone can make lung diseases worse, trigger asthma attacks, and cause or aggravate chronic bronchitis,ย according to the EPA.
The state of Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Railroad Commission of Texas filed aย petitionย in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, two days after the EPA published the โgood neighborโ plan in the Federal Register. The lawsuit claims that the EPAโs federal implementation plan exceeds the agencyโs authority.
The lawsuit was filed by interim Attorney General John Scott, who is running the agency since Attorney Generalย Ken Paxtonย was suspended after the House of Representativesย voted to impeachย him on May 27. Paxton is banned from running the office while he awaits his impeachment trial before the Texas Senate.
An EPA spokesperson said that โbecause this is pending litigation, EPA has no further information to add.โ
The attorney generalโs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The TCEQ said it usually doesnโt comment on pending litigation.
Paxton has filed a number of lawsuits against the federal government over what he calls federal overreach. He argued inย a comment on the EPAโs smog plan last yearย that the federal agency had overstepped its authority and ignored how the regulations would impact electric grid reliability in Texas.
โThe EPA takes on โ however poorly โ critical reliability issues and ignores the independent nature of the Texas electric grid,โ Paxton wrote, stating that it was โinappropriateโ for the EPAโs plan to require states to consider shifting from electric generation to renewable or lower-emission sources of electricity as a strategy to reduce ozone.
Under the Clean Air Act, states are required to submit plans detailing how they will comply with federal air standards. Texas turned in plans that the EPA rejected and ruled as inadequate in 2022, along withย portions of 20 additional state plans.
Texas sued the EPA over that ruling in February. An email from the attorney generalโs office at the time said that โthe rule that would undercut statesโ authority and efforts to properly regulate their own environment.โ
โThe EPAโs disapproval would enable the federal government to seize further regulatory power and impose a burdensome and unnecessary federal plan on states,โ the email from Paxtonโs office added.
The EPA has revised the smog plan since then. The federal agency has said that the โgood neighborโ plan will prevent approximately 1,300 premature deaths nationally, cut asthma symptoms by 1.3 million cases and provide an estimated economic benefit of $13 billion each year from 2023-42.
โWe know air pollution doesnโt stop at the state line. Todayโs action will help our state partners meet stronger air quality health standards beyond borders,โ EPA Administrator Michael Regan said when the agency announced the revised plan in March.
Texasโ new lawsuit is challenging the revised plan.
โSame office, different name,โ said Emma Pabst, a campaign representative for the Sierra Clubโs Beyond Coal Campaign in Texas. โItโs pretty clear to me that Scott is following Ken Paxtonโs footsteps.โ
This article was written by ALEJANDRA MARTINEZ of The Texas Tribune. ย The Texas Tribuneโ and engages with them โ about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. ย This article originally appeared at: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/09/texas-smog-plan-epa-lawsuit/