The Supreme Court is putting the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) air pollution-fighting Good Neighbor Plan on hold while legal challenges continue, according to the Associated Press.
The justices in a 5–4 vote rejected arguments by the Biden administration and Democratic-controlled states that the plan was cutting air pollution and saving lives in 11 states where it was being enforced and that the high court’s intervention was unwarranted.
The rule is intended to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution. It will remain on hold while the federal appeals court in Washington considers a challenge to the plan from industry and Republican-led states.
In a statement, the EPA noted that the court’s action was not a final decision. “The EPA is disappointed in today’s ruling, which will postpone the benefits that the Good Neighbor Plan is already achieving in many states and communities,” the EPA said.
