Acting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Steve Johnson this week signed the final Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) that will reduce air pollutions that moves across state boundaries in 28 eastern states, including Pennsylvania and its neighbors.

By 2015, CAIR will provide health and environmental benefits valued at over 25 times the cost of compliance, and those benefits will continue to grow.

CAIR will permanently cap emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO2 emissions by over 70 percent and NOx emissions by over 60 percent from 2003 levels.

The new requirements are expected to result in more than $100 billion in health and visibility benefits per year by 2015 and will substantially reduce premature mortality in the eastern United States, and these benefits will continue to grow each year with further implementation.

CAIR mandates the largest reduction in air pollution since the reductions set by the Acid Rain Program under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

Next week, EPA is scheduled to issue the first-ever requirement for coal-fired power plants to control mercury emissions. That action, plus the CAIR rule, puts multi-pollutant controls in place for many of the largest sources of air pollution in the country.

NewsClips: Power Plants Face Tougher Pollution Limits

EPA Tightens Smog, Soot Rule

Northeast States Welcome Rule Cutting Pollution

3/11/2005