(Washington, DC, April 13, 2022) Today, a group of environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The suit was filed because EPA has failed to enforce Regional Haze Rule, as required by Clean Air Act. Thirty four states have yet not submitted plans for reducing air pollution in our country’s most famous national parks and wilderness areas and restoring natural visibility to these wild areas. The EPA amended its Regional Haze Rule in 2017. States have until July 31, 2021, to complete their plans. This means that states and owners major polluting facilities have ample time to prepare.
The lawsuit urged the EPA, in accordance with the Clean Air Act to meet its obligations, to set retirement dates and to require large polluters to reduce their emissions to clear haze and improve public safety. Haze impacts 90 percentNational parks in the country. The same pollutants that cause widespread air pollution also have a detrimental effect on public health, especially in communities that have been impacted by systemic racism for generations. The air pollution from burning fossil fuels, and other sources, worsens community’s health, drives up healthcare prices, and makes life harder for kids to learn, play, and for adults to work.
These same sources of polluting are also causing the climate crisis. Climate change has caused wildfires to increase in frequency and intensity over natural levels in the west U.S., including Yosemite National Park and other coastal parks. It has also raised the sea level at the Statue of Liberty, other coastal parks, and is melting Glacier Bay glaciers.
AL, AK. AZ. AR, CO. DE, GA. HI. ID. IL. IA. KY. LA. ME, MN. MS, MO. NE. NV. NH. NM. ND. OK, OR. PA. RI. SD. UT. VT. VA. WV. WY. To date, 16 states and Washington D.C. submitted SIPs.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court. Find it here. Earthjustice represented the Center for Biological Diversity and National Parks Conservation Association.
Statement by Stephanie Kodish (Senior Director and Counsel for National Parks Conservation Associations NPCA Clean Air and Climate Programs):
Every day that EPA doesn’t enforce the law it puts the health and safety of our national parks as well as communities at risk. While pollution is being emitted from facilities across the country, more than 30 states have failed to make plans to reduce haze and restore clean air in our national parks and elsewhere. Now it is up to EPA to hold these states to account and ensure clean skies for our national parks, rangers as well as wildlife and communities. EPA must act now to ensure the future of our national parks, Acadia to Yosemite.
Statement by Holly Bender, Senior Director of Energy Campaigns at Sierra Club
Coal burning power stations are the main cause of soot and other smog that contributes to cloudiness. The thirty-four states in this lawsuit that failed to submit pollution control plans are home to some the most dangerous polluters in America. These coal plants, along with other fossil fuel facilities, not only affect national parks, wilderness areas, and communities of color, but also cause pollution to the air we inhale. Administrator Regan must take action to ensure that the failure of these states to regulate polluting substances does not result in utilities receiving a financial windfall at the expense public health and the achievement of clean air on public lands. The EPA must enforce the law to ensure justice for those communities that have been affected by soot or smog.
Statement by Graham McCahan Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund
It is vital that we reduce the amount of pollution that causes fog so that we can preserve the beauty and health of our national parks, as well as the beauty of America. There is no time for waste.
Statement by Nicole Horseherder (Executive Director of T Nizhn) n:
Care for each other and the planet that sustains is what builds our future. The Navajo Nation relies on the EPA Regional Haze Program to function properly in order to reduce air pollution that has reached Navajo territory. All living things are interconnected and everyone has the right to a safe and healthy community.
Statement by Elizabeth Loos, Executive director of the Badlands Conservation Alliance
North Dakota is home to some of the worst haze polluters in America, affecting air quality in Theodore Roosevelt National Park as well as other places in the Badlands. Unfortunately, we have noticed a pattern where the state is constantly downplaying concerns, delaying actions, and failing to require pollution control to ensure clean air. The EPA must hold the North Dakota’s worst coal plants accountable for repeatedly missing deadlines.