January 14th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

The Environmental Protection Agency has tentatively denied a request from Maryland and seven other states that it crack down on pollution that blows across state borders — though not because regulators don't recognize that interstate smog is a problem. The states had asked in 2013 that nine Midwestern and Southern states be included as part of the region that's held responsible for the summertime smog they send elsewhere around the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. While acknowledging the problem, the EPA said Wednesday there are other strategies the states could take under federal air pollution laws to address it. EPA officials said the federal Clean Air Act "provides other, more effective mechanisms to address the transport of ozone between states and the impact this pollution has on the states."