EPA Region 6 Proposes Rejecting TCEQ Haze Plan

Dallas, TX — On Sept. 27, Region 6 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rejecting the core elements of an updated regional haze plan from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Monitoring and modeling have consistently shown that haze pollution – which clouds the vistas that Texas is known for – is largely formed by emissions released by coal plants, but the state plan refused to evaluate cost-effective pollution control measures for a number of these large facilities. 

“This TCEQ haze plan – like all other TCEQ haze plans – would do absolutely nothing to reduce the levels of haze-forming chemicals coming out of Texas coal plants,” said Joshua Smith, a senior attorney for the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program who works extensively in Texas. “The agency and commissioners appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott continue to ignore their duty to the Texans who breathe dirty air and the many people who want to enjoy clearer views in natural spaces across the state. This rejection is a step in the right direction for Region 6, which has a long history of delaying meaningful action on haze in Texas. We urge them to finalize this as proposed.”

Each state must submit a haze-reduction plan to comply with EPA’s Regional Haze Rule, which was established by several Clean Air Act amendments calling for reduced haze pollution in our national parks. In Texas, this would include Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks. Haze pollution knows no borders and also clouds the skies of our state parks and other natural spaces. According to an EPA map, Texas haze pollution has had minor to no improvement, so we know action is needed to clear our skies. The chemicals that form haze also make people living near coal plants sick. 

The plan at the center of EPA’s action this week is the state’s plan for the second haze planning period focused on the requirement that states make “reasonable progress” toward eliminating haze pollution in protected parks. If finalized, the rejection would lead to EPA issuing a federal plan with specific steps for Texas coal plants to take to reduce haze pollution. It signals that Region 6 thinks cost-effective pollution controls are necessary at coal-burning power plants like Martin Lake, W.A. Parish, San Miguel, Limestone, and Oak Grove, among others. The parts of the TCEQ plan that EPA is proposing to approve are minor, such as classification of Class 1 areas. 

EPA action on the plan was required by a July settlement between EPA and Sierra Club, the National Parks Conservation Association, Earthjustice, and the Environmental Integrity Project. The advocacy groups sued EPA when it failed to make a decision on the haze pollution plans from TCEQ and 31 other states by the statutory deadline. EPA will soon begin accepting public comments on the proposed rejection, and will collect feedback for 30 days. It then will finalize its decision on the TCEQ plan by May 30, 2025.