The Interstate Carriage of Pollutants: The Legal Problem and Existing Solutions

Abstract

That air pollution does not confine itself to the state in which it is produced is one of the principal justifications for federal regulation of this environmental hazard. 1/ Yet, to date, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not squarely faced the problem of the wind-blown transport of air pollutants from one state to another. This is especially true with regard to the carriage of sulfates and the formation of oxidants. While some might allege incompetence on the part of the federal agency, it appears that EPA has not dealt with the interstate problem because it knows “which way the wind is blowing,” for the control of the interstate carriage of pollutants causes difficult political and economic questions which could raise the ire of local politicians and industrialists already adamantly opposed to assuming the burden of controlling degradation of air quality.