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The Environmental Protection Agency has moved to roll back a portion of the previous administration’s “Good Neighbor Plan” rule, which had sought to expand government regulation of interstate air emissions (POLITICO Pro, subscription).

What’s going on: The EPA’s proposal, announced Wednesday, “would free several states from having to take additional action to curb emissions from power plants and other industries that float across state lines. The action is a key part of the Trump administration’s deregulatory efforts” at the agency.

Why it’s important: “Manufacturers have worked to ensure they practice good environmental stewardship in their communities, and that has included ensuring healthy air quality,” said NAM Senior Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin.

• “The ‘Good Neighbor Plan,’ however, would likely have resulted in the closure of power plants, driving up the cost of power and putting American energy security at risk. Rolling it back in a balanced way is a step forward for manufacturing in the U.S.”

What now? In “phase one” of its proposal, the EPA will approve plans by eight states—Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico and Tennessee—to regulate emissions themselves, the EPA said.

• If the plans are finalized, “the states would no longer need to worry about another ‘Good Neighbor Plan’ subject to approval by the federal government, the agency said” (Associated Press).
• The previous administration had said these states were not mitigating cross-state emissions sufficiently.
• “A second phase rule still to come will address plans from other states, including Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah and West Virginia,” for which the EPA may consider air quality, cost and other factors in determining what emissions must be eliminated, the agency said, according to POLITICO.