Conservation Groups Issue Reply to EPA in West Virginia Regional Haze Lawsuit

A coalition of conservation groups — the National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, and Earthjustice — filed a response in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit defending their lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of West Virginia’s Regional Haze State Implementation Plan. The groups argue that EPA’s approval, based on a Trump-era policy change, allows West Virginia to bypass the Clean Air Act’s core requirement for reasonable progress in reducing visibility-impairing air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas. They contend the plan is unlawful because it fails to require additional controls for the state’s highest-polluting coal plants, despite the availability of affordable upgrades to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions that harm health and degrade visibility. If the court does not grant the groups’ petition, treasured sites such as Dolly Sods and Otter Creek Wilderness areas in West Virginia, as well as Shenandoah, Mammoth Cave, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, could face increased risks of poor air quality. The lawsuit, first filed in September 2025, marks the first legal challenge to the policy change, which the groups say rewrites the Clean Air Act and has already been used to propose approvals of inadequate haze plans in other states. Advocates emphasize that the EPA’s decision disregards decades of agency precedent and undermines protections for parks and downwind communities, while state and industry representatives argue the plan is sufficient.

(Source：Clean Technica)