Clean Air
Improving Visibility in America's National Parks
On April 16, 2004, the Bush Administration proposed a rule amending EPA's 1999 Regional Haze Rule that will help improve visibility in our parks by requiring the installation of best available retrofit technology (BART) on older facilities emitting pollution that states determine harms visibility in specially protected areas. States will be required to identify facilities subject to BART controls and determine the level of pollution control technology required. Under this rule, EPA estimates that BART would result in emission reductions of approximately 2.2 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 1.2 million tons of nitrogen oxides by 2015, with additional reductions from other types of facilities. Many of these facilities previously have not been subject to Federal pollution control requirements for visibility-harming pollutants. For some of the source categories, existing technology can reduce emissions by 90 to 95 percent. Combined with the President's other clean air rules, the BART proposal offers an additional tool for states to address remaining sources of air pollution in the United States.
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