Texas regulators on Wednesday advanced a plan for reducing pollution at its national parks that lacks any new limits on air pollutants that cause haze and disregards concerns voiced by federal agencies and environmentalists alike.
Texas’ proposed plan — which is required by the federal government to improve visibility at national parks and other federally protected areas — would not require coal plants in Texas to do anything differently to reduce haze on the federally-managed lands. Environmentalists had hoped Texas would require the power plants, one of the largest contributors to haze, to install pollution-reducing technology, such as scrubbers, that most other states have required for several years.
Texas has long fought the federal government over just how far its pollution regulations need to go to comply with the Clean Air Act’s requirement to reduce haze and increase visibility at Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and other federally protected areas impacted by Texas pollution.
