Sierra Club Appeals EPA Approval of South Carolina’s Do-Nothing Pollution Plan - CleanTechnica

The Sierra Club has appealed the EPA’s approval of South Carolina’s regional haze pollution plan, criticizing it as a "do-nothing" approach that fails to reduce air pollution affecting visibility in national parks and wilderness areas. Under the Clean Air Act’s Regional Haze program, states are required to implement pollution controls to improve visibility impaired by sources such as coal plants. However, South Carolina’s plan, approved by the EPA, determined that no pollution controls were necessary at any of the state’s coal plants, including Santee Cooper’s Winyah plant, despite evidence that these facilities contribute to visibility degradation at 22 national parks and wilderness areas, including the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. The Sierra Club argues that both South Carolina and the EPA violated the rules established by the Regional Haze Rule and Clean Air Act by failing to require pollution controls. This legal challenge follows a similar appeal the Sierra Club filed against West Virginia’s regional haze plan last year. Paul Black, Sierra Club’s Senior Campaign Organizer in