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February 20, 2002 -- Visibility in Mandatory Federal Class I Areas, 1994-1998 A Report to Congress
The national visibility goal was established in section 169A of the 1977 Clean Air Act (CAA) as "the prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in mandatory Federal Class I areas which impairment results from manmade air pollution." This report presents visibility trends and analyses of annual and seasonal pollutant composition based on 1994-1998 monitoring data from 46 sites.


August 23, 2001 -- Public Hearing to Discuss EPA's Proposed BART Guidelines
A list of speakers and a tentative schedule (PDF 21k) for a public hearing to discuss EPA's Proposed BART Guidelines in Chicago, IL, on Monday, August 27, 2001, is now available on-line in PDF format.


*February 28, 2001 Petitions for reconsideration of the regional haze rule

In July and August 1999, the EPA received two petitions for reconsideration of the regional haze rule. On January 10, 2001, Administrator Carol Browner denied the two petitions for reconsideration. See letters to Michael L. Teague and Paul M. Seby(PDF 10k) and Response to Petitions for Reconsideration of Regional Haze Rule(PDF 57k).


*November 7, 2000 - Notice of Availability of Annex to 1996 Report of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission

EPA has issued a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register to inform the public that the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) has submitted an Annex to the 1996 report of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) to EPA on September 29, 2000. This submittal was required under 40 CFR 51.309 of the regional haze rule in order for nine Western States to have the option of submitting State plans implementing the GCVTC recommendations by December 31, 2003. The Annex contains a number of recommendations addressing sulfur dioxide emissions (a key precursor to the formation of fine particles and regional haze) in the region, including a set of emissions milestones for the 2003-2018 period across the 9-State region. In the coming months, EPA will review the Annex to determine whether it meets the requirements of the regional haze rule and applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act(CAA). At the end of this review, we will propose changes to the regional haze rule to incorporate recommendations from the Annex if we find, after a formal 60-day public notice and comment period, that the Annex meets the requirements of the regional haze rule and the CAA.

Electronic versions of the Notice of Availability and the WRAP recommendations document are available from EPA's Office of Air and Radiation Policy and Guidance website at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/gener.html.

The WRAP has developed additional supporting information for these recommendations as well, and it is available from the WRAP's website at: http://www.wrapair.org, under "Final Annex Documents Released." Exit EPA disclaimer

*October 12, 2000 - Focus Groups on Visibility Impairment

EPA is soliciting comments on a set of questions it intends to use in upcoming focus groups to gather information about visibility impairment resulting from air pollution. (Note - EPA is not seeking answers to the survey questions.) Visibility impairment associated with airborne particulate matter is a major welfare effect under evaluation by EPA in its most recent review of the national ambient air quality standards. To help inform the review, EPA plans to set up focus group sessions in several locations across the country. The purpose is to gather information about the public's acceptance of differing levels of visibility impairment. EPA has developed a set of questions for the focus groups and will accept public comment on the questions until December 12, 2000. Comments should be submitted to Rich Damberg, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Mail Code 15, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, email damberg.rich@epa.gov, phone (919) 541-5592, fax (919) 541-7690.

Assessing Public Opinions on Visibility Impairment due to Air Pollution: Federal Register notice PDF format
   
Assessing Public Opinions on Visibility Impairment due to Air Pollution: Project Summary and questions PDF Format

 

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