The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to weaken Clean Air Act protections for areas near national parks and wilderness areas, The Washington Post reports.

The rule would make it easier for to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near protected areas. Jeffrey R. Holmstead, a former EPA official who represents the controversial Desert Rock Energy power plant project on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, helped develop the proposal, according to the Post.

Half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators object to the rule, which could be finalized as early as this week. The National Parks Conservation Association plans to file a petition for reconsideration in hopes of having president-elect Barack Obama reverse it.

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EPA Moves to Ease Air Rules for Parks (The Washington Post 11/19)