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Now, in 1990, then Assistant Administrator Rosenberg's testi- 

 mony to this subcommittee focused on the improvements that the 

 Clean Air Amendments would make in visibility. You all recently 

 completed a report to analyze those improvements. According to 

 that report, the acid rain title of the act would substantially reduce 

 the amount of sulfate that reached Eastern national parks and wil- 

 derness areas; is that correct? 



Ms. Nichols. Yes. 



Mr. Synar. By about 25 percent; correct? 



Ms. Nichols. It is definitely an improvement, although it is not 

 enough. 



Mr. Synar. Now, how do those reductions translate to visibility 

 improvements? 



Ms. Nichols. We will have some numbers from my staff which 

 were not included in the testimony but I believe that they are reli- 

 able. If you will recall the pictures that you had up on the board 

 earlier showing the bad days and the median and the very best 

 days, I think what the acid rain regulations in and of themselves 

 will do is to shift the curve slightly. Currently, as indicated, we are 

 experiencing the worst days about 30 to 50 days a year, or 30 to 

 50 very bad days. 



By 2005, with the acid rain regulations, even if we were to do 

 nothing else, which is not the case, that number of days would be 

 reduced to 20 to 30. Whereas with the good days, the very excellent 

 days, which I was privileged myself to have experienced a couple 

 weeks ago when I visited that park for the first time, the very ex- 

 cellent are now, roughly, 20 to 30 days per year. And the estimate 

 is that by the year 2005, again with no further action, we would 

 be getting that up to 25 to 35 days. So, it is again an absolute, 

 though small improvement. 



Mr. Synar. Not significant for the normal visitor to see much 

 change? 



Ms. Nichols. The bulk of the days are still going to be pretty 

 much the same. 



Mr. Synar. What about the changes in nitrogen oxide levels in 

 the East? They are going up; aren't they? 



Ms. Nichols. As an absolute number. 



Mr. Synar. But doesn't that and ozone cause harm to streams? 



Ms. Nichols. Under the acid rain provision, alone, yes, although 

 there are other measures that are involved under the Clean Air Act 

 that we believe are going to bring the NO x numbers down. That is 

 why I was hesitating in response. 



Mr. Synar. Do you have to address NO* in the East? 



Ms. Nichols. We will need to be addressing NO x , for example. 



Mr. Synar. Do you have a strategy for that? 



Ms. Nichols. We are developing a strategy in many respects. 



Mr. Synar. When will that be in effect? 



Ms. Nichols. There is not a single NO* strategy per se, but 

 there are NO x regulations under the Acid Rain Program that are 

 out now, just out. 



Mr. Synar. Under section 169B(a), the Administrator is supposed 

 to conduct research identifying sources, and regions of sources, of 

 visibility impairment and regions providing clean air to class I 



