National Parks Group Discovers Serious Flaws in Air Pollution Policy, Highlights 300 Year Gap between Congressional Mandate and Natural Air Quality in Iconic Parks

Despite the directives of the 1977 Clean Air Act and the 1999 Regional Haze Rule, many national parks today suffer serious air pollution and at the current rate of progress it will be centuries before their natural air quality is restored, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has found. Included in a sample of ten national parks that NPCA highlighted are the nation’s first national park, Yellowstone, which will not achieve natural air quality until 2163, and the Grand Canyon, which is prized for its stunning vistas above all else and will not see pristine air quality until 2127. NPCA has launched a petition calling on President Obama to speed the rate of improvement of national park air quality by closing regulatory loopholes and ensuring that all parks have natural air quality by 2064, the deadline provided in the 1999 Regional Haze Rule. In addition, NPCA has produced a short video  on the impacts of pollution in parks and on the 300 year delay in cleaning up  these beloved places...more