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, ~I WESTERN VISTAS .' TIN _.r oIl11e Grand Cenyon Vlalblllly Tr.nepott CommlNlon Volume 1. Number 2 April 2, 1993 , -, )qi ~ ' ...~ . ~ <I. ,"1 " (~ (, " .:} I . Grand Canyon VISibility Transport Committees meeting in San Diego. PIroIo courlNy: CIty of Loa Angel.. Depar1ment of Weier and _ ,,',< N8tlonal R_rctl CouncU Br" Comml..,on on Vlalblllty Report Organizations like the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission are needed to c~lntrol haze in National Parks and Wilderness Areas, according to members of the National Research Council's Committee on Haze in National Parks and Wildenl41SS Areas. Four representatives of the NRC Committee provided a special briefing to the Commission during meetings held in San Diego during Janu8/)'. The Council's report, Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas, provides a comprehensive look at preserving and managing visibility throughout the country. The two year project was sponsored by several federal agencies and private industries, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences. The Council found that existing visibility in the cleanest areas of the southwest is only five eighths what ~ would be under natural conditions. Controlling this haze will require a regional effort, and a substantial, long- term program. ;.. The Council found that enough information is available now to justify additional regulations to improve visibility, The technology for such improvements is also available. The Council tound that four source cat.egories each contribute about fifteen percent to the total haze in the Golden Circle: gasoline vehicles, power plants, fugitive dust (mostly trom vehicles) and diesel vehicles. Petroleum and chemical plants together contribute about ten percent. If progress toward the Congressionally mandated national goal of no hum~ visibility impairment in National Parks and Wilderness Areas is to continue, additional research is needed. Greater understanding of haze will improve our ability to manage~. Research and development of improved emission controls will also be required. :"-~ [;~ !/ (~ . ~y;,< : -t~ ;;:t~ '$ fi, ;..' ~}~ The committee noted that visibility protection strategies may need to be diflerent in the west than in the east. Such regional differences mean that a regional body like the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission can play a key role in visibility management. The relatively clean air of the west makes ~ an especially vulnerable resource, since smal: increases in air pollution can cause a notable increase in haze.