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."
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 |
|
|
|
Assessing Public Opinions on Visibility
Impairment due to Air Pollution: Project Summary and questions |
|
|