National Park, Meet Coal Smog

The Environmental Protection Agency is set to change its rules to allow the construction of coal power plants in previously off-limits areas near national parks, the Christian Science Monitor reports. A draft revision to the Clean Air Act would soften standards of pollution in “Class 1” areas (ie, national parks) and how much pollution a proposed plant would add.

Under the new rules, firms looking to build a plant would judge their emissions with a yearly average—where the current standard looks at pollution spikes on a day-to-day basis. In addition, pollution from emitters that have been granted exceptions would be excluded from evaluations of how much smog an area can stand. (More national park stories.)