112 



Second, I think in terms of whether you are going to have rule- 

 making or any other process, the issue of visibility itself needs to 

 be elevated. 



Mr. Synar. It is not even a high priority, is it? 



Mr. Souby. The Secretary announced a national parks program 

 and quite frankly we were surprised visibility wasn't included. 



Mr. Synar. How, for example, will the cutbacks in atmospheric 

 research at EPA hurt your efforts? 



Mr. Souby. We think they already have. We filed a resolution. 

 We sent correspondence to the previous administrator. 



Mr. Synar. Are EPA and the land managers trying to coordinate 

 their priorities with your priorities? 



Mr. Souby. It is hard to answer that question. 



Mr. Synar. The answer is, no. 



Mr. Souby. I don't want to — you would have to single out agen- 

 cies. Some agencies have worked with us and, in fact, are taking 

 this seriously and then there are some agencies where they don't 

 come to the commission meeting and what have you and that is a 

 problem. So it varies. 



Mr. Synar. Are you looking at air quality related values other 

 than visibility? 



Mr. Souby. Definitely. As a matter of fact, that is a major benefit 

 in the analysis we are trying to obtain funding for. 



Mr. Synar. I want to summarize with you. Let me see, if I have 

 got this right. Your argument for why we should wait — if we do — 

 for the rest of the country, is that we are going to learn through 

 your trial and error how one of these works. 



Mr. Souby. Rulemaking may be in order elsewhere in the coun- 

 try. I am just saying with respect to this initiative, I think the best 

 interests of solving the visibility problem are carrying out the proc- 

 ess that was set forth. If this had not been in the statute, if this 

 process had not begun, we would probably have a different point 

 of view. But the fact is we are engaged very seriously. We have just 

 turned the corner into actually analyzing options, control options 

 and other strategies. 



Mr. Synar. So your argument is just don't do it for the West? 



Mr. Souby. I represent the West. It is very hard for me to argue 

 on other regions of the country. So I don't feel like I can answer 

 a question on a national basis. But I feel very strongly I can an- 

 swer the question from our perspective in our region. 



Mr. Synar. It does make sense not to wait. In other words, there 

 is no reason to not do it elsewhere if your product is not going to 

 help them. That is just common sense. 



Mr. Souby. I am not so sure I agree. Again, I go back to the na- 

 ture of the issue. I am not familiar specifically with sources of 

 emissions in other areas of the country, if in fact they are easily 

 targeted and identified, then rulemaking and the rest of the strat- 

 egy might work. But if they are, in fact, individuals, camp fires, 

 very difficult to enforce type situations, then I think you have to 

 spend more time thinking about an effective strategy if you want 

 to actually see results on the ground. And I think that is impor- 

 tant. 



