Proposed Revision of the Texas Regional Haze Federal Implementation Plan and Denial of Petition for Reconsideration of Provisions Governing Alternative to Source-Specific Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) Determinations
FACT SHEET
What is EPA proposing here?
On April 19, 2023, EPA proposed a rule to address Clean Air Act requirements to protect visibility in national parks and wilderness areas, such as Big Bend National Park in Texas and Caney Creek Wilderness Area in Arkansas. This action proposes emission limits for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM) at twelve electric generating units (EGUs) located at six power plants in in Texas. EPA projects that these limits would reduce SO2 emissions in Texas by more than 80,000 tons per year. These sources are already meeting the proposed PM limits with existing PM control equipment. The proposed SO2 emission limits are based on conventional, proven, at-the-source pollution control technology that is in place across a vast portion of the existing EGU fleet in the United States.
EPA is also proposing to affirm the current Regional Haze Rule provision allowing states whose EGUs participate in a CSAPR trading program for a given pollutant to continue to rely on CSAPR participation as a BART alternative for its BART-eligible EGUs for that pollutant. In this action, EPA is also denying a petition for partial reconsideration submitted by environmental groups objecting to an earlier decision that CSAPR continues to satisfy requirements as a BART alternative. This will provide certainty to the 19 states that currently rely on CSAPR participation as a BART alternative for their BART-eligible EGUs by making it clear that they can continue to rely on CSAPR as a BART alternative. This includes Texas, which relies on participation in CSAPR for ozone season NOx to address NOx BART requirements for its BART-eligible EGUs
To learn more about this proposed action, visit https://www.epa.gov/tx/texas-regional-hazebest-available-retrofit-technology-federal-implementation-plan-and-cross.
What is Regional Haze?
- Visibility-impairing “regional haze” is caused when sunlight encounters tiny particles of pollution (both naturally occurring and human-made) in the air. While the particles absorb some of the light, other light is scattered before it becomes visible. The greater the number of pollutant particles, the more light is absorbed and scattered. The haze reduces clarity and color of what we can see, in this instance, above the nation’s Class I areas. EPA has typically focused on nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter as key, man-made visibility-impairing pollutants.
