167 



Mr. Synar. Why didn't you choose to issue adverse impact deter- 

 minations on all nine plants in Virginia that you examined? 



Mr. McCleese. We didn't have what we considered to be enough 

 information to substantiate an adverse finding on some of them. In 

 others we were able to work with the applicant, and they volun- 

 tarily reduced their emissions so that eliminated the problem. 



Mr. Synar. Are you confident in your modeling? 



Mr. McCleese. We believe that the modeling reflects the best 

 science that is available. 



Ms. Backiel. Mr. Chairman, as I said in my testimony, too, we 

 would also like to see some longer-range modeling for air pollution 

 transport over and above what we have got now. 



Mr. Synar. In light of the efforts you have made to show this ad- 

 verse impact, and the fact that the permits were issued anyway, 

 do you think there was any kind of showing that would have satis- 

 fied the State of Virginia? 



Ms. Backiel. In one of the three cases, the applicant withdrew 

 the application. The other two cases, I believe the plants have 

 started to be built. We feel that our case was substantive. I don't 

 know if we could have really had much more detail involved in our 

 response. 



Mr. Synar. The bottom line is that the States are in charge; 

 aren't they? 



Ms. Backiel. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Synar. Would you describe the Forest Service's data review 

 screening and how it is used? 



Mr. McCleese. Are you referring to the air quality related val- 

 ues? 



Mr. Synar. Yes. 



Mr. McCleese. We first determine for each wilderness area 

 what those sensitive values are that could be affected by air pollu- 

 tion, and then we do monitoring to determine whether or not 



Mr. SYNAR. How do you set priorities through the system? How 

 do you pick which permits are more important than others? 



Mr. McCleese. You mean in the PSD review? 



Mr. Synar. Right. 



Mr. McCleese. We look at the conditions that are existing in the 

 wilderness to determine which ones are most sensitive and which 

 ones would be most heavily affected. 



Mr. Synar. Do you have enough resources to set priorities? 



Mr. McCleese. It is hard to say whether we ever have enough. 



Mr. Synar. If you don't have the resources some important areas 

 may be missed. 



Mr. McCleese. We do not have the resources to intensively 

 evaluate every PSD permit. 



Mr. Synar. All right. 



I want to move on to discuss Mt. Zirkel, because I think it is a 

 unique place. Where is Mt. Zirkel first? 



Ms. Backiel. It is in the Routt National Forest in north central 

 Colorado, and I would like to invite Dennis Haddow who is from 

 Colorado and who is our Air Quality Program Manager there in 

 Colorado. 



Mr. Synar. I am told we are going to see some slides on this. 



Ms. Backiel. If you would like to see them, sir, yes. 



