New Jersey will now track industrial pollution differently, not less

US environmental regulators approved a new way for New Jersey to track nitrogen oxide emissions from large industrial facilities. The state will now use a specific agreement with the regulators instead of its old budget program to show it is meeting clean air rules.

New Jersey previously managed nitrogen oxide emissions from factories and other large non-power plants using a cap-and-trade style budget. That program ended. This new agreement means the state still has to control these emissions, but it will do so through direct negotiation and reporting with US environmental regulators. It changes the method of oversight, not the requirement to control pollution.