EDF, Allies Call on EPA to “Abandon Illegal Proposal” to Roll back Good Neighbor Protections

(Washington, D.C. – March 24, 2026) Environmental Defense Fund and 11 other health, environmental and community groups have filed comments with the Trump EPA outlining the “many legal and technical errors” in the agency’s proposal to rescind part of the Good Neighbor Plan – the law that protects people in downwind states from smog-forming pollution that blows across state lines from coal plant smokestacks and other large industrial emitters in upwind states. 

The comments state that the Trump administration’s proposal “unlawfully abdicates EPA’s statutory duty to ensure upwind States do their fair share to protect downwind States and their residents from harmful cross-border … pollution,” and call on EPA to “abandon this illegal Proposal.” 

“Air pollution does not stop at state lines, and millions of Americans suffer because of smog they did not create and cannot control that has been inflicted on them by their upwind neighbors,” said Noha Haggag, Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “Smog damages people’s lungs and is linked to asthma attacks and other serious heart and lung diseases, pregnancy complications, and early death. We have widely available technology that can protect people from the pollution that causes smog. The Trump EPA’s proposed rollback would leave people at unnecessary risk.” 

The Good Neighbor Plan was issued in 2023. It takes its name from a long-standing part of the Clean Air Act, known as the “Good Neighbor” provision, which requires that upwind states eliminate emissions that significantly contribute to unhealthy levels of pollution in downwind states. EPA has a decades-long history of taking action under the Good Neighbor provisions – across both Republican and Democratic administrations – to reduce unhealthy levels of air pollution through widely available and cost-effective controls.   

The Good Neighbor Plan was designed to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution from fossil fuel power plants and industrial sources in 23 states, which would protect millions of people living in areas with unhealthy levels of smog. (EPA later proposed expanding the protections to five additional states). The comments point out that almost 130 million Americans – almost 40% of the country – live in an area with unhealthy ozone pollution as of last year.  

At the time it was issued, EPA estimated the Good Neighbor Plan would save 1,000 lives,  prevent more than 6,600 new asthma cases and avoid 2,000 hospital emergency  visits every year – yielding net annual monetary benefits (after any costs) of $200 billion.  

In its proposal, the Trump EPA reversed prior findings that 10 of the states failed to 
adequately address nitrogen oxides pollution. If finalized, this rollback would exempt these states from the Good Neighbor Plan – and thus expose millions of people downwind to more harmful pollution from coal plant smokestacks and other large industrial emitters. 

EDF was joined on by Air Alliance Houston, Appalachian Mountain Club, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Clean Air Task Force, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and WildEarth Guardians on the comments.