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4 

 Prompted by this situation, the Department of the Interior 

 published a Federal Register notice on September 18, 1990, finding 

 that air pollution is causing adverse impacts on the visibility, 

 streams, and vegetation of Shenandoah National Park. On February 

 5, 1992, the Department published a similar Federal Register notice 

 for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In these notices, the 

 Department stated generally that proposed emissions primarily of 

 sulfur and nitrogen oxides associated with major new sources within 

 120 miles of these parks were likely to exacerbate these adverse 

 impacts. The Department requested that the permitting authorities 

 require emission offsets and other appropriate measures to assure 

 that these sources would not contribute to adverse impacts on Class 

 I resources. Since 1990, the Department has made source-specific 

 adverse impact determinations in approximately 10 cases — 8 proposed 

 power plants near Shenandoah National Park, 1 proposed industrial 

 boiler near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and 1 proposed 

 power plant near Denali National Park. 



In all these cases, however, the State, as permitting authority, 

 has issued PSD permits to the sources despite the Department's 

 objections. The Department appealed the States' issuance of PSD 

 permits in two instances. In one case, the Superintendent of 

 Shenandoah filed an appeal concerning Virginia ' s issuance of a 

 permit for the Multitrade cogeneration project despite the Federal 

 Land Manager's adverse impact determination. In the other case, 

 the Department filed an appeal on behalf of the U.S. Fish and 



