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scientific data and control technologies are available to begin 

 developing regional haze regulations. 



CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 



Mr. Chairman, we know that your Subcommittee has a long 

 standing interest in improving visibility in national parks and 

 wilderness areas. In view of the limited success of the PSD and 

 other programs in controlling air pollution in class I areas and 

 in light of increasing scientific evidence that regional sources 

 are major contributors to visibility impairment, we believe that 

 some type of regional approach is needed to address the problem. 

 EPA has indicated its intentions to wait for additional 

 information before deciding whether to issue regional haze 

 regulations. However, it is unclear when the information will be 

 available in view of reductions in the number of monitoring sites 

 in class I areas and the fact that only one visibility transport 

 commission has been established. 



At the same time, it should be noted that the National 

 Research Council and the Park Service have both stated that 

 current scientific knowledge is adequate and control technologies 

 are available for taking regulatory actions to improve visibility 

 in class I areas . It seems to us that they have made convincing 

 arguments. Accordingly, we recommend that the EPA Administrator 

 begin developing a control strategy for addressing visibility 

 impairment caused by regional sources . 



Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would 

 be pleased to respond to any questions. 



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