The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a Biden administration environmental regulation aimed at curbing harmful air pollution that crosses from one state to another and contributes to the formation of smog.
In doing so, the court on a 5-4 vote granted requests from three Republican-led states — Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia — and various affected industries, including natural gas pipeline operators.
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court's three liberals in disagreeing with the outcome.
The Environmental Protection Agency regulation applied to 23 states, although lower court rulings meant it was already blocked in 12 of them.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is skeptical of broad exertions of federal power on regulatory issues, including the environment.
As a result, it is receptive to legal challenges mounted by Republican attorneys general and industry groups that have long griped about the EPA’s aggressive use of its regulatory powers.
The EPA’s “good neighbor plan” was announced last year in a bid to curb nitrogen oxide pollution from industrial facilities. If implemented in full, it would apply to 23 “upwind” states whose emissions can contribute to pollution in “downwind” states.
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