EPA slams Texas’ latest plan to cut haze in national parks

By Sean Reilly | 10/02/2024 04:18 PM EDT

The agency cited “numerous flaws” in the state’s plan to curb haze-forming emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources.

The Rio Grande flows out of the Santa Elena Canyon.

The Rio Grande flows out of the Santa Elena Canyon, one of the most striking scenes along the U.S.-Mexico border March 15 in Big Bend National Park, Texas. EPA and Texas are discussing plans to reduce haze in national parks. John Moore/AFP via Getty Images

Despite more than a decade of wrangling, EPA and Texas have yet to fully settle their differences over the first round of cleanup of haze-forming pollution that smudges views in national parks like Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend.

They’re now also officially at odds over round two.

In a newly released draft rule, EPA found that a Texas plan fell far short of federal requirements for making reasonable progress to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources that mar park vistas.

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Among “numerous flaws” cited by EPA, the state failed to adequately assess some plants that are probably contributing to haze pollution, significantly overstated the potential cost of sulfur dioxide scrubber upgrades at others and overall concluded that no new pollution control measures were needed for Texas industries because any park visibility improvements would be “imperceptible.”

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