"A panel of appeals court judges scrapped a Trump-era rule yesterday that it said did not set strong enough restrictions on downwind states' exposure to smog-forming air pollutants produced by upwind neighbors.

The 2018 regulation, known as the closeout rule, relies on a part of the Obama-era Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) update that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently instructed EPA to revisit (Greenwire, Sept. 13).

EPA's closeout rule 'did not require these reductions to be made by 2021, the next applicable attainment deadline,' the court wrote in a judgment issued yesterday afternoon. 'Recently, we reaffirmed that the Clean Air Act requires upwind states to make such reductions.'"

Pamela King reports for Greenwire October 2, 2019. [2]