Regional Haze
REGIONAL HAZE STATE
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
What is Regional Haze?
Regional Haze is defined as visibility impairment that is caused by the emission of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area. In 1977, the Federal Clean Air Act set a goal to remedy any existing visibility impairment, and prevent any future impairment, from manmade pollution at 158 national parks and wilderness areas across the United States.
Learn more about the broad science of Regional Haze
Learn more about visibility monitoring in the State of Wyoming
What is a State Implementation Plan (SIP)?
As required by the Federal Clean Air Act, states must submit a plan to the Environmental Protection Agency to outline how the state and the regulated community will address a particular air quality problem.
Learn More About Federal Regional Haze Rules
40 CFR 51.308
40 CFR 51.309
Appendix Y to Part 51 - Guidelines for BART Determinations Under the Regional Haze Rule
Learn More About Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) Recommendations
What is the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP)?
The WRAP is a collaborative effort of tribal governments, state governments
and various federal agencies to implement the recommendations of the Grand
Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) and to develop the technical
and policy tools needed by western states and tribes to comply with the
EPA's regional haze regulations. The activities of the WRAP are
conducted by a network of committees and forums composed of WRAP members and
stakeholders who represent a wide range of viewpoints; public involvement is
an integral part of the Partnership.
Work in Progress on the Wyoming Regional Haze SIP
The Wyoming Air Quality Division is currently addressing regional haze (under 40 CFR 51.309(g)) in Wyoming (and neighboring states) with the focus on impairment caused by sources of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Earlier work listed below under "Work Completed" dealt primarily with impairment caused by sulfur dioxide. The AQD held a SIP hearing on October 27, 2009 in Casper, Wyoming at the Casper DEQ Field Office. The comment period has closed. The Division is currently reviewing public comments. Questions on the process can be directed to Christine Anderson at: tander@wyo.gov.
WRAP TSS
The Technical Support System (TSS) (http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/tss/) has been developed by the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) to provide a single portal to technical data and analytical results prepared by WRAP Forums and Workgroups. The data, results, and methods displayed on the TSS are intended to support the air quality planning needs of Western states and tribes, and will be maintained and updated to support both the implementation of regional haze plans and other Western air quality analysis and management requirements.
The TSS integrates a number of different information resources, or data nodes, under one web-based umbrella. The data nodes currently supporting the TSS include:
Causes of Haze Assessment (CoHA) - The CoHA website is an online report that answers questions about the chemical components that cause regional haze, relationships of haze to meteorology, the emissions that cause haze, and the effects of previous and future emissions reductions on the worst and best visibility levels.
Emissions Data Management System (EDMS) - The WRAP EDMS is an emission inventory data warehouse and web-based application that provides a consistent approach to regional emissions tracking to meet the requirements for State Implementation Plan (SIP) and Tribal Implementation Plan (TIP) development and periodic review and updates.
Fire Emissions Tracking System (FETS) - The FETS is a database with a web interface for planned and unplanned fire events. Users can view fire data on-screen with a mapping tool and query the database for downloads of data into model-ready formats and CSV or DBF formats.
WRAP Regional Modeling Center (RMC) - The WRAP RMC assists State and Tribal agencies in conducting regional haze analyses over the Western U.S. by operating regional scale, three-dimensional air quality models that simulate the emission, transformation, and transport of pollutants and the effects on visibility in WRAP Class I areas.
More information on how the WRAP TSS works can be found at the WRAP TSS site.
Work Completed on the Wyoming Regional Haze SIP
On December 29, 2003, the State of Wyoming submitted the first phase of the state implementation plan addressing requirements for regional haze visibility protection in mandatory Federal Class I areas. This SIP focused on improving regional haze in the southwest through the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions from large industrial sources located throughout the West. The State of Wyoming elected to meet some of the federal regional haze visibility requirements by submitting an implementation plan that complies with the requirements of 40 CFR 51.309: Requirements related to the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission. Regional SO2 Emissions and Milestone Reports, one of the requirements of the 309 SIP, are submitted each year and are listed below. The reports determine whether or not sulfur dioxide emissions (SO2) emitted by large industrial sources exceed the SO2 emission milestones set in the Regional Haze State Implementation Plans for Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. These states submitted regional haze plans and cooperated in the development of this report.
On November 24, 2008, the State of Wyoming submitted revisions to the 2003 submittal. Revisions were a necessary step in response to several court challenges to the Federal Regional Haze Rule.
Cover Letter for Revised 309 Wyoming Regional Haze SIP Submittal
Revised 309 Wyoming Regional Haze SIP
Revised 309 Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) Technical Support Document
Revised 309 Wyoming Supplement to the WRAP Technical Support Document
Public Comments
Agency Responses to Public Comments
Regional SO2 Emissions & Milestone Reports
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
SO2 Milestone Tracking Process Audit Completed 10/02/07
2008 (12/18/09 Draft)
Related Links
WRAP Regional Modeling Center - provides modeling assistance to
State and Tribal agencies in conducting regional haze analyses over the
western United States
IMPROVE - monitoring network for visibility
Western Governors' Association