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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
prepared 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.
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| 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. |
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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.
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| List serve sign-up: Go to the Regional
Haze Listserve page to learn more about receiving information
when changes are made to this website. |
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ON-GOING
ACTIVITIES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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Regional Haze Plan 
(Adopted January 22, 2008)
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At the public hearing held on January 22, 2009, ARB
approved the California Regional Haze Plan.
Below you will find links to the RH Plan documents,
letter submitting the plan to U.S. EPA, and the resolution adopting the
Plan.
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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 were
initially evaluated. However, many older sources preliminarily listed
for California have already been retrofit to BART level. The final
results of the BART determination are listed in the Final RH Plan. |
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. To view
data formatted for analysis for the West, go to the WRAP's Technical
Support System (TSS). |
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PAST PUBLIC
MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
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Public
Workshop
(December 15, 2008)
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On December 15, 2008, ARB held a webcast workshop in
Sacramento. The agenda and presentation materials are available below
for downloading.
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Status Report on Regional Haze Regulations (June 2000)
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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)
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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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