New EPA regulations intended to improve visibility in national parks and wilderness areas by reducing haze are too weak to be effective and could actually endanger the long-term health of many of the Nation's national parks, according to the Sierra Club.
Under the Clean Air Visibility Rule signed June 15, 2005, the states are required to identify older industrial facilities and power plants that affect visibility in protected areas, including national parks and wilderness areas. The states would then determine the types of emission controls that those facilities must use to control their emissions, resulting in, says the EPA, improved visibility, air quality, and public health.
"America's national parks and wilderness areas are getting a new level of protection," said Jeff Holmstead, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation in a press release. "The Clean Air Visibility Rule -- combined with stringent standards for a dramatically cleaner new generation of vehicles and deep cuts in power plant emissions -- mean that our views will be clearer and the air healthier."
EPA's benefits analysis shows that this rule will provide approximately $240 million annually in visibility improvements in southeastern and southwestern parks. The rule will also provide substantial health benefits in the range of $8.4 - $9.8 billion each year -- preventing an estimated 1,600 premature deaths, 2,200 non-fatal heart attacks, 960 hospital admissions, and more than 1 million lost school and work days. The total annual costs of this rule range from $1.4 to $1.5 billion.
The rule requires states to identify and determine appropriate emissions controls for facilities built between 1962 and 1977 that have the potential to emit more than 250 tons a year of visibility-impairing pollution. Those facilities fall into 26 categories, including utility and industrial boilers, and large industrial plants such as pulp mills, refineries and smelters.
Not Good Enough, Says the Sierra Club
Arguably the Nation's largest environmental advocacy group and avowed critic of the Bush Administration, the Sierra Club declared the new regulations fall short of what it thinks the National Parks need.
"Rather than fulfilling the promise to restore air quality in all our parks through strong enforcement of the Clean Air Act, EPA is relying on a pollution trading scheme which may leave some of our most treasured places at risk," stated a Sierra Club press release.
According to the Sierra Club, the teeth of the new regulation, the "Clean Air Interstate Rule," which establishes a pollution trading program for the Eastern United States, does not guarantee that any specific location will see any reduction in visible pollution.
"The truth is," continues the Sierra Club press release, "the new rule is weak and imperils the long-term health of some of America’s most storied National Parks like the Grand Canyon and Great Smokies. From coast-to-coast, pollution from outdated power plants, factories and vehicles is fouling the once-majestic views of America’s treasured National Parks, and this new rule will not solve the problem."
"The best way to improve the air quality and visitor experience at America’s National Parks is to enforce the Clean Air Act."
