Mead: Wyoming’s Regional Haze Plan Should Be Adopted

Governor Matt Mead says Wyoming has put a lot of resources into a strong plan for addressing regional haze and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should not deny part of Wyoming’s plan. The regional haze program is intended to address aesthetic and visibility concerns.

Governor Mead says Wyoming’s plan is already in the works and power producers have already invested millions of dollars in new technologies to meet Wyoming’s requirements and those changes are already reducing haze. The federal government’s plan would be significantly more costly. The Governor said the federal plan would cost $1.2 billion in up-front costs and an additional $170 million per year.

In his comment letter to the EPA Governor Mead wrote, “Wyoming’s plan achieves great reductions in visibility impairing emissions; it does so with less cost to ratepayers; it does so with cooperation among many affected parties; and, most importantly, Wyoming’s plan achieves Congress’s goal of restoring visibility in full compliance with the Clean Air Act and the Regional Haze Rule.”