Court backs challenge of EPA's approach to control regional haze. (Washington Alert).

On May 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the provisions in the U.S. EPA regional haze rule, which requires air pollution sources to retrofit plants with new controls to reduce haze-forming emissions, are unlawful. (American Corn Growers v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 99-1348).

The 1999 regional haze rule requires that states establish goals for improving visibility in national parks and wilderness areas and develop long-term strategies for reducing emissions of air pollutants that cause visibility impairment. Specifically, states were to set up programs under their state implementation plans to improve visibility (or visual air quality) in 156 national parks (such as Yellowstone) and wilderness areas across the country.

Stationary sources (including many manufacturing facilities such as foundries) emit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which lead to the formation of fine particles that absorb light and reduce visibility. The rule requires sources that reduce visibility to be retrofitted with controls to minimize their emissions. EPA decided that sources would be grouped and controlled based on geographical location. The "group approach" requires all sources in a geographical area to have controls installed rather than leaving it to the states to determine the sources that should be retrofitted on a source-by-source basis.

The Court of Appeals ruled that EPA's requirements for facilities to install best available retrofit control technology (BART) are inconsistent with the Clean Air Act and impede the authority of states to determine that sources should have to comply. The BART provisions were remanded to the agency, which means that EPA will have to redraft those portions of the rule.

For more information on EPA's Regional Haze Program or for a copy of the regional haze rule, visit http://www.epa.gov/air/visibility/program.html.