Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful for historical purposes. See

http://www.epa.gov/airtransport/ for information about the Transport Rule, EPA's response to the

Court remand of CAIR which will replace CAIR when final.

Announcements

July 6, 2010 - EPA proposes

Transport Rule. This rule

proposes a response to the

Court remand of CAIR and

will replace CAIR when final.

November 3, 2009 - EPA

Publishes Final Stay of CAIR

and CAIR FIP for Minnesota

only

On December 23, 2008, the

D.C. Circuit remanded

without vacatur EPA's Clean

Air Interstate Rule.

Read the court decision (PDF

4pp, 22k)

On November 17, 2008, the

United States filed a reply in

support of its petition for

rehearing (PDF) (10pp, 391k)

in the Clean Air Interstate

Rule case.

Attachment 1 (PDF) (23pp,

138k)

Atachment 2 (PDF) (12pp,

166k)

You are here: EPA Home Air & Radiation Clean Air Interstate Rule

Current status of CAIR programs

July 6, 2010 - EPA proposes Transport Rule. This rule proposes

a response to the Court remand of CAIR and will replace CAIR

when final.

The December 23, 2008 ruling leaves CAIR and the CAIR FIPs --

including the CAIR trading programs -- in place until EPA issues

a new rule to replace CAIR in accordance with the July 11, 2008

decision. Read the court decision (PDF) (4pp, 22k). EPA informed

the Court that development and finalization of a replacement

rule could take about two years.

Summary of Court actions

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled on

petitions for review of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and

CAIR Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs), including their

provisions establishing the CAIR NOX annual and ozone season

and SO2 trading programs. On July 11, 2008, the Court issued

an opinion vacating and remanding these rules; however,

parties to the litigation requested rehearing of aspects of the

Court's decision, including the vacatur of the rules. On

December 23, 2008, the Court granted rehearing only to the

extent that it remanded the rules to EPA without vacating

them.

Background on CAIR

On March 10, 2005, EPA issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), a rule that will achieve

the largest reduction in air pollution in more than a decade. CAIR will ensure that Americans

continue to breathe cleaner air by dramatically reducing air pollution that moves across state

boundaries. In 2015, CAIR will provide health and environmental benefits valued at more than

25 times the cost of compliance.

CAIR will permanently cap emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the

eastern United States. CAIR achieves large reduc tions of SO2 and/or NOx emissions across 28

eastern states and the District of Columbia. When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO2

emissions in these states by over 70 percent and NOx emissions by over 60 percent from 2003

levels. This will result in $85 to $100 billion in health benefits and nearly $2 billion in visibility

benefits per year by 2015 and will substantially reduce premature mortality in the eastern

United States. The benefits will continue to grow each year with further implementation.

A closely related action is the EPA Clean Air Mercury Rule, the first ever federally-mandated

requirements that coal- fired electric utilities reduce their emissions of mercury. Together the

Clean Air Mercury Rule and the Clean Air Interstate Rule create a multi-pollutant strategy to

Clean Air Interstate Rule

http://www.epa.gov/cair/

Last updated on Friday, July 09, 2010

3/15/2011 EPA: Clean Air Interstate Rule

http://www.epa.gov/cair/ 1/2
States Covered by CAIR

More information about where you live

reduce emissions throughout the United States.

Where to find more information:

Where You Live - Descriptions of the health and

environmental benefits of the Clean Air

Interstate Rule in each of the 28 states in the

Eastern US and the District of Columbia.

Basic Information - Summary of the Clean Air

Interstate Rule as well as a summary of the

design of the program and the benefits it would

provide.

Regulatory Actions - Links to proposed and final

rules, fact sheets, and other rulemaking

documents.

Charts and Tables - A collec tion of printable

charts, tables, and graphics demonstrating the

health and environmental benefits of the Clean

Air Interstate Rule.

Technical Information - Technical support

information and links to related information.

Implementation - Links to frequently asked

questions, reports and analyses, Notice of Data

Availability, and other implementation topics.

3/15/2011 EPA: Clean Air Interstate Rule

http://www.epa.gov/cair/ 2/2