On July 6, 2011, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalised a rule aimed at protecting the health of citizens by helping states reduce air pollution and attain clean air standards. This rule, known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), requires 27 states – broadly, the eastern half of the country – to significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and/or fine particle pollution in other states. It replaces EPA's 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). A December 2008 court decision kept the requirements of CAIR in place temporarily but directed EPA to issue a new rule to implement Clean Air Act requirements concerning the transport of air pollution across state boundaries. This action responds to the court's concerns.
On 8 August the Final Rule was published in the Federal Register. The complete public docket is now open. Additional information available since the CSAPR was first announced in July includes power sector modelling outputs and air quality modelling results are available on the technicaI information page.
•In a separate but related regulatory action, EPA also issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPR) to require six states - Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin - to make summertime NOX reductions under the CSAPR ozone-season control programme. Five of those states are already covered in the final rule for interstate fine particle pollution. With the inclusion of these states, a total of 26 states would be required to reduce ozone-season NOX emissions to assist in attaining the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Finalising this supplemental proposal would bring the total number of covered states under the CSAPR to 28. EPA issued a proposal instead of a final action for these states in order to provide additional opportunity for public comment on their linkages to downwind non-attainment and maintenance areas. EPA is proposing to finalise this proposal by late autumn 2011.
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