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progress toward the national visibility goal. 



Mr. Chairman, I applaud your efforts in support of the protection 

 and enhancement of air quality in national park and wilderness 

 areas. I appreciate your conducting this follow-up hearing to your 

 1990 hearing, to examine the important and difficult issues facing 

 us today. In your letter of invitation sent last week, you asked 

 many specific questions. We have provided your staff with a 

 notebook of information in response to these questions and related 

 matters. It should be noted that, since the material in the 

 notebooks has not been reviewed within the Administration it does 

 not necessarily reflect the Administration's clean air policies. 

 I shall focus the remainder of my testimony on key developments 

 since March 1990, and critical issues facing us now. 



PSD Developments and Issues. In its 1990 report, the GAO observed 

 that the National Park Service had rigorous standards for 

 determining that a major new source would have an adverse impact on 

 Class I resources. For this and other reasons, the Park Service 

 had not made any adverse impact determinations at the time this 

 Subcommittee held its first hearing in March 1990. This situation 

 changed radically, however, later that year, after the Park Service 

 became aware of numerous permit applications for new power plants 

 in the vicinity of Shenandoah National Park, whose overall 

 pollution levels top most other Class I areas. 



