Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0729
In regards to: [Decision Maker],
I urge the EPA to strengthen its proposed rule for Texas and regional haze, Docket # EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0729.
Under EPA's proposed rule, Texas would rely only on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which focuses on statewide pollution reductions, to reduce haze in national parks. The Cross State Air Pollution Rule was designed for a different purpose, and has not yet been put into effect due to litigation. Most importantly, under that rule, the old, dirty Texas plants that currently contribute to haze in beloved areas like Big Bend and the Guadalupe Mountains may choose not to install pollution controls, instead opting to buy emission allowances from states as far away as Minnesota and South Carolina. To address haze, EPA should require Texas to consider each plant on a case-by-case basis and make sure our parks and health are protected.
These distant emission reductions in other states, rather than Texas, may not protect Big Bend or Guadalupe Mountains as intended by the Rule.
Moreover, the same air pollution from coal-fired power plants that causes haze also harms public health, so the proposed rule may not clean up the air that Texans breathe as the Regional Haze Rule would.
Visitors to Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains, and all Texans, deserve the full clean air benefits of the Regional Haze Rule.
