BALTIMORE — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recent denial of Maryland's petition asking the agency to impose additional controls on upwind emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) has resulted in the state seeking judicial review.
According to the Maryland Attorney General's Office, a judicial review has been sought for the state's relief under Section 126 of the Clean Air Act in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The state seeks the EPA's additional controls of NOx which is a "precursor to the ozone" affecting the state, according to the Attorney General's Office.
“The EPA’s decision to deny our petition gives a green light to out-of-state power plants to continue sending their pollution downwind to Maryland," Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement. "Maryland strictly controls NOx emissions within its own boundaries, but other states need to do their part to keep ozone levels down. Requiring power plants to implement common sense standards to reduce harmful emissions is the responsibility of EPA.
"With the Maryland Department of the Environment, we are appealing EPA’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to protect Marylanders from the negative health consequences of other states’ pollution," he added.
In 2016, the Attorney General's Office filed a petition under the Clean Air Act requesting the EPA to require out-of-state power plants to turn on their already installed pollution control equipment to reduce NOx emissions which was denied in September, according to Frosh's office.