The Sierra Club appealed the EPA’s approval of South Carolina’s do-nothing plan to reduce air pollution at our country’s most wild and scenic national parks and wilderness areas. The Congressionally-approved Regional Haze program of the Clean Air Act is intended to reduce air pollution, including from coal plants, that impair visibility at our most prized public lands.
South Carolina’s plan arbitrarily and unlawfully failed to follow the rules established in the Regional Haze Rule and Clean Air Act. Both South Carolina and EPA determined that no pollution controls were necessary at any of the state’s coal plants, including Santee Cooper’s Winyah, despite the plants’ contribution to visibility impairment. In total, 19 industrial facilities throughout the state are negatively affecting visibility at 22 different national parks or wilderness areas, including the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. Additionally, 90 facilities around the country are negatively impacting Cape Romain.
Sierra Club filed this challenge following its appeal to EPA’s approval of West Virginia’s regional haze plan last year. The petition to appeal can be found here…