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Today is the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to announce a new rule designed to clean up the haze¹ that obscures views in national parks. A court-imposed deadline is part of a decade long fight over pollution, and that fight may not be over. NPR's Elizabeth Shogren reports.

KB monitors air quality for Grand Canyon² National Park in Arizona. He has a close-up view of what haze does to one of the country's scenic³ gems⁴. He recently stood on the canyon's south rim⁵ with a cell phone, and described what he saw.

Early in the morning like this can see the tempos⁶ rising up out of the canyon in the forest over on the north rim. The colors are a little bit muted by some of our haze this morning though, so they are not quite as vibrant⁷ as what they can be.

The haze that clouds the view blows in from industrial plants and urban areas, like Phoenix⁸ and Los Angeles.

As that air moves across those areas, it picks up its load of pollutants⁹ and then by the time they get to the Grand Canyon of hundreds of miles away it's mixed into a fairly uniform haze that just sort of blankets the whole area.

In fact B says some haze obscures the Grand Canyon 90 percent of the year. Some days visitors complain.

On the very haziest¹⁰ days what you see out there is bluish gray masses without really very much color or texture¹¹.

Haze cloaks many other parks too. And in 1977 Congress said the air of our parks had to be restored to natural conditions. It set a deadline of 2064. The Environmental Protection Agency has been working on one big part of the problem: its emissions¹² from older industrial facilities, power plants, smelters, and factories built before 1977. But industry groups have resisted. They already took the agency to court and blocked one cleanup plan. Now they are threatening to do that again, with the EPA rule due today. James S heads the Western Business Round Table.

If it goes forward in its current flawed condition, it will not likely stand legal challenge.

Industry groups complain that the rule will threaten new power plants and other projects. They also say it would give the federal government new power to tell states what to do.

When Washington comes and bulls its way in the west and says,"Hey we know better than you westerners, what's good for your land." Well, they can't these people's backup.

Statements like that get Chris Shaver's backup. She heads the air programs for the National Park Service, and she says the States do want EPA to act.

I don't think it's a valid¹³ criticism. The States at least in the west have had a very different role of helping¹⁴ cross these rules, and the rules I expect would give the states a great deal of authorities to implement¹⁵ them in a way that they see fit.

Shaver says the states want that flexibility¹⁶ so they can preserve the majestic¹⁷ views that bring in millions of visitors. EPA's new plan will have its biggest impact on the west. Another rule that EPA announced last month is supposed to help clear up eastern parks. At the Grand Canyon KB predicts EPA's plan will help bring back views that now only some visitors see, on a good day.

The reds and the golden tans of the cliffs are shining, and shadows are sharp and clear. When you look over the north rim, it looks like you could almost reach out and touch it. It's hard to believe that it's ten miles away.
What parks and visitors see in the future could depend on what EPA decides to do today.

Elizabeth Shogren, NPR News, Washington.