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Wisconsin sues over federal nitrous oxide rule

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//November 23, 2016//

Wisconsin sues over federal nitrous oxide rule

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//November 23, 2016//

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Wisconsin is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over a relatively new federal rule that state officials contend would unfairly force in-state power plants to reduce their emissions of nitrous oxide to protect downwind states.

The suit stems from the Obama Administration’s adoption earlier this year of a revision to the federal Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. The change gives Wisconsin and 21 other states until next year to reduce their emissions of nitrogen oxide, known as NOx for short, by certain specified amounts.

In general, the rule is meant to prevent power plants in upwind states from contributing to the pollution of downwind states. Announcing the lawsuit Wednesday, Wisconsin Department of Justice officials said Wisconsin is the only state placed in both the upwind and downwind categories by the new rule.

Joining Wisconsin in the lawsuit are Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio and Wyoming. Wisconsin has been among a group of states that have regularly asked the courts to overturn or block new rules and regulations handed down by the Obama Administration.

This latest suit is not the first filed in opposition to a new environmental regulation. Wisconsin and other states have also challenged the administration’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan requires states to reduce their emissions by 30 percent on average by 2030. Each individual state, though, has its own, slightly different goals.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in February to halt the plan until the legal challenge could be resolved.

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