EPA Approves WV Regional Haze Plan After Reversal

The Environmental Protection Agency approved West Virginia's plan to reduce air pollution affecting national parks and wilderness areas in mid-2025, reversing an earlier rejection by the agency just six months prior. The decision, which prioritizes visibility benchmarks over evaluations of pollution controls at coal-fired power plants, has drawn criticism from conservation groups who argue it weakens protections established over the past quarter century.

Under the federal regional haze rule, enacted in 1999, states must submit plans every decade to limit emissions and monitor air quality in more than 150 protected areas, including national parks, wilderness zones, wildlife refuges, and tribal lands across 36 states. The rule targets pollutants like sulfur dioxide and smog that impair visibility. Since its implementation, emissions have dropped by hundreds of thousands of tons annually in over 90 such areas, boosting average visual range from 90 miles to 120 miles in some Western parks, according to data from Harvard Law School's Environmental and Energy Law Program.

In January 2025, shortly after the presidential inauguration, the EPA signaled it would reject West Virginia's...