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nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, ozone, and other 

 hazardous emissions. 



In the Clean Air Act as amended in 1977, Congress declared "as a 

 national goal the prevention of any future, and the remedying of 

 of any existing impairment of visibility in mandatory class I 

 Federal areas which impairment results from manmade air 

 pollution." Congress directed the Environmental Protection Agency 

 to promulgate regulations to ensure "reasonable progress" and a 

 "long-term (ten to fifteen years) strategy" toward meeting that 

 goal . 



Seventeen years later, our nation has failed to develop a long- 

 term strategy or to make reasonable progress in meeting the 

 national goal of preventing and remedying visibility impairment 

 in any of the United States' 158 class I areas. In fact, the EPA 

 has yet to define "reasonable progress" or to promulgate any 

 regional haze regulations for protecting our national parks and 

 wilderness areas. 



In 1990, Congress established the Grand Canyon Visibility 

 Transport Commission (GCVTC) because air pollution continues to 

 impair visibility in the Grand Canyon region. The commission is 

 now embarked on a precedent-setting process that has eluded 

 federal and state agencies for more than a decade. 



The Commission faces a daunting challenge. Cynics say, not 

 without justification, that the best strategy to avoid action is 

 to form a commission. After more than two years of working with 

 the GCVTC, I am cautiously optimistic that this process will 

 result in an effective long-term strategy that will restore the 

 crystal clear vistas of the Colorado Plateau. This optimism is 

 primarily based on our progress developing and implementing an 

 ambitious plan of work and on the high level of commitment by 

 federal and state agencies that are involved in the process. 



However, the Grand Canyon Trust believes that Congress has not 

 appropriated sufficient funds to complete the work of the GCVTC. 

 In particular, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National 

 Park Service, the Western Governors Association, and state air 

 quality offices are underfunded and understaffed to finish the 

 process. Similarly, unlike utility and industrial interests, the 

 Grand Canyon Trust and other nonprofit environmental groups have 

 difficulty in participating fully in this very time-consuming 

 process. 



Given this imbalance in involvement and ability to participate, 

 we are concerned that those who benefit by delaying the process 

 will continue to question the adequacy of information and the 

 legitimacy of control options. Despite the National Research 

 Council's conclusion that "current scientific knowledge is 

 adequate and control technoloqies are available for taking 



