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Particulate pollution, including sulfates,
nitrates, organics, soot, fine soil dust, and particles, contribute
to the regional haze that impairs visibility, in addition to affecting
public health. California's efforts to achieve State and federal air quality
standards for health benefits will also improve visibility.
The Federal Clean Air Act of 1977 set a long-term goal of improving
visibility to achieve natural conditions in selected national parks
and wilderness areas of the United States, known as Class 1 Areas, by
2064. California has 29
mandatory Class 1 Areas managed by either the National Parks Service
or the U.S. Forest Service.
In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) promulgated
a regional haze regulation that calls for states to establish goals
and emission reduction strategies to make initial improvements in visibility
at their respective Class 1 Areas. The ARB is preparing a Regional Haze
Plan (RH Plan) for California demonstrating reasonable progress in reducing
haze by 2018, the first benchmark year on the path to natural visibility
by 2064.
U.S. EPA funded five Regional Planning Organizations throughout the
country to coordinate regional haze rule-related activities between
states in each region. California belongs to the Western Regional Air
Partnership (WRAP), the consensus organization of western states, tribes,
and federal agencies, which oversees analyses of monitoring data and
preparation of technical reports regarding regional haze in the western
United States. |
| Detailed information about California’s Class 1 Areas,
analysis of data collected, specific RH Plan tasks, technical reports,
and public meetings are found at the links described below. |
| For more information about regional haze and California's
activities to improve visibility, contact: Tina Suarez-Murias at
csuarezm@arb.ca.gov or by phone
at (916) 323-1495. |
| List serve sign-up: Go to the Regional
Haze Listserve page to learn more about receiving information when
changes are made to this website. |
|
ON-GOING ACTIVITIES AND ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
|
Public Workshop 
(POSTPONED)
|
The June 10, 2008 workshop has been postponed.
|
| DRAFT Regional Haze Plan |
Coming Soon
|
BART requirement
(Best Available Retrofit Technology) |
Industrial facilities in certain Standard Industrial Classification
(SIC) code categories, which have major sources of haze pollutants from
emissions units that were approved, constructed, or brought on line between
August 9, 1962 and August 9, 1977, may be required to retrofit those emissions
units to reduce haze pollutants. The report Identification
of BART-Eligible Sources in the WRAP Region describes this requirement
and Appendix H lists the facilities in California that might have these
older emission units. However, many older sources in California have already
been retrofit to BART level. ARB is currently working with the local air
districts to confirm the retrofit status of these units. |
IMPROVE Monitoring Network
(Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) |
There are 17 specialized monitors in or near California’s
Class 1 areas that measure levels of haze pollutants. The Visibility
Information Exchange Web System (VIEWS) webpage stores all of the
data nationwide, as well as that from California sites. |
Causes of Haze and Possible Sources of Haze Pollutants |
The WRAP Attribution of Haze Working Group produced a Phase
1 report entitled Geographic
Attribution for the Implementation of the Regional Haze Rule that
describes the haze pollutant species concentration at each IMPROVE monitor
and how the combination of pollutants lead to light extinction that impairs
visibility at nearby Class 1 areas. The report also shows how emission
sources in the region and haze pollutants transported from other regions
may contribute to impaired visibility at each Class 1 area. Go to the
California
section of the report to select a specific Class 1 area for further
information. |
|
PAST PUBLIC MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
|
Status Report on Regional Haze Regulations (June 2000) |
The Air Resources Board conducted a public
meeting on June 22, 2000, at its Sacramento offices to present information
on federal regional haze requirements and how they will affect California. |
Western States Public Workshops on Regional Haze Framework
(June 2000) |
In order to get the widest possible input from the affected
public, the WRAP held a series of workshops
throughout the West. The purpose of the workshops was to seek public comment
on proposed alternatives for reducing sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions over
the next 18 years, including the use of emissions trading as a backstop
option. California is not participating in this program, the SO2 Annex,
which applies primarily to coal-burning power plants and industries in
some of the other western states. The Annex is a regional sulfur dioxide
trading market for stationary sources in lieu of Best Available Retrofit
Technology (BART). |
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