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In this composite view of Shenandoah National Park (Virginia), the right portion is a photograph that represents the 20% most impaired visibility days according to current monitoring data. The majority of haze seen in this photo is caused by sulfate particles resulting from combustion of coal. The left portion is a photograph of monitored conditions representing the estimated 60-year goal for improving the most impaired days under the new regional haze rules.
bruce_polkowsky@nps.gov
Policy Analyst, NPS Air Resources Division; Natural Resource Program Center, Lakewood, Colorado
Back to Chapter 1: New Horizons
Natural Resource Challenge addresses natural resource protection needs
by Abigail Miller and Douglas K. Morris
Thrusts of the Natural Resource Challenge
Resources Careers implemented
by Kathy M. Davis
Natural resources law and policy course revived for superintendents
by Carol McCoy, Bob Karotko, and Sharon Kliwinski
SUWA case has ramifications for NPS management policies
by Chick Fagan
NPS establishes environmental leadership program
by Shawn Norton and Dan Kimball
Award-Winner Profile--Kathy Davis
by Bruce Polkowsky
On 1 July 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated new regulations that will require state governments to improve visibility in 48 parks that are designated Class I under the Clean Air Act. These new regulations bring a sweeping change to the process of visibility protection, which until now focused only on resolving visibility impairment that could be traced to specific sources and new source-permitting reviews.
The thrust of the new regulations is a 60-year planning path to return visibility conditions to "natural." The states must implement, in 10-year steps, emission-control actions that decrease regional haze to the point that it represents no human-caused impairment. The states may take into account the costs of emission controls as well as the availability of techniques to reduce visibility impacts in developing their control plans. In addition, they must determine the appropriate control levels for certain older major stationary sources of emissions and implement those controls within the first 10-year plan period.
Although this sounds simple enough, the key is that visibility impairment is caused, for the most part, by very fine particles. Some particles form in the atmosphere from "invisible" gaseous pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These fine particles can also travel hundreds of kilometers, well beyond state borders. Herein lies the new regulatory challenge: having the individual state plans under the Clean Air Act address a regional problem.
The EPA has encouraged states to coordinate planning through five "regional planning" bodies covering all of the contiguous 48 states. States that do not contain Class I areas and have never addressed the issue will now need to implement regulatory plans to address impacts at parks and other Class I areas in distant states. In the eastern United States, where there is severe visibility impairment, the scope of emissions changes needed to attain natural conditions is daunting. However, there are other programs, including the EPA's new health standards, which are also expected to require major emissions reductions.
"Issues such as defining 'natural conditions,' including the role of fire, will require that new analytical techniques be developed."
The new regulations bring to light new questions for NPS management, too. How will the National Park Service coordinate with these five planning bodies? On the technical side, issues such as defining "natural conditions," including the role of fire, will require that new analytical techniques be developed. What are the roles of the Air Resources Division, regional offices, and individual parks in helping the states develop regulatory plans? The National Park Service will need to answer these questions before the first 10-year plans are due.
The Air Resources Division has already expended considerable resources in working on a plan for western states through the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission and its successor, the Western Regional Air Partnership. Whether that effort will be the model for other regional efforts will depend on resources and the types of regulatory plans the states pursue. In any case, the technical and policy work will need to be addressed soon. The first 10-year plans must be in place between 2003 and 2008, depending on the region of the country and certain planning options open to the states. These plans will be the first step in a process that promises dramatic visibility improvement in many parks.
(See the related news brief on cleaner air for Grand Canyon and the West.)
This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--1999; published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, August 2000 (publication D-1406)
/YearInReview/yir/yir99/pages/01horizons/06polkowsky_air.htm
Last Updated: 09/26/00
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