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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources (CGER)

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas

Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas

Committee on Haze in National Parks and Wilderness Areas

Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1993

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I

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Committee on Haze in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1993

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20418 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The project was supported by the Department of Energy under grant number DE-FG01-90FE62072, the Department of the Interior under contract number 14-01-0001-89-C-39, the State of Arizona Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District under grant number VN08016CAS, the Environmental Protection Agency, Chevron, and the United States Department of Agriculture under grant number 91-G-018. Library of Congress Catalog No. 93-83079 International Standard Book No. 0-309-0-4844-3 Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. B-065 Front cover: Computer-simulated picture of natural and current average conditions for Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Relative humidity is the same for the simulations (Trijonis, J., W. Malm, M. Pitchford, and W.H. White, 1990). Printed in the United States of America

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Committee on Haze in National Parks and Wilderness Areas ROBERT A. DUCE (Chair), Texas A & M University, College Station, TX JACK CALVERT (Vice Chair), National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO GLEN R. CASS, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA JOHN E. CORE, WESTAR Council, Portland, OR H. WILLIAM ELDER, Retired, Florence, AL PETER H. MCMURRY, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN PAULETTE B. MIDDLETON, State University of New York at Albany (University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder), Albany, NY CRAIG N. OREN, Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, NJ JOSEPH M. PROSPERO, University of Miami, Miami, FL PERRY J. SAMSON, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI IAN M. TORRENS, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA JOHN TRIJONIS, Santa Fe Research Corporation, Bloomington, MN WARREN H. WHITE, Washington University, St. Louis, MO Project Staff RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Program Director KATHLEEN J. DANIEL, Project Director (until February 1991) ROBERT B. SMYTHE, Program Director (until August 1991) LEE R. PAULSON, Editor RUTH R. CROSSGROVE, Staff Editor ANNE M. SPRAGUE, Information Specialist WILLIAM H. LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant (until June 1992) FELITA S. BUCKNER, Senior Program Assistant BOYCE AGNEW, Project Assistant (until July 1991)

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology PAUL G. RISSER (Chair), University of Miami, Oxford, OH FREDERICK R. ANDERSON, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, DC JOHN C. BAILAR, III, McGill University School of Medicine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada GARRY D. BREWER, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI JOHN CAIRNS, JR., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA EDWIN H. CLARK, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, State of Delaware, Dover, DE JOHN L. EMMERSON, Lilly Research Laboratories, Greenfield, IN ROBERT C. FORNEY, Unionville, PA ALFRED G. KNUDSON, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA KAI LEE, Williams College, Williamstown, MA GENE E. LIKENS, The New York Botanical Garden, Millbrook, NY JANE LUBCHENCO, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR DONALD MATTISON, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA HAROLD A. MOONEY, Stanford University, Stanford, CA GORDON ORIANS, University of Washington, Seattle, WA FRANK L. PARKER, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, and Clemson University, Anderson, SC GEOFFREY PLACE, Hilton Head, SC MARGARET M. SEMINARIO, AFL/CIO, Washington, DC I. GLENN SIPES, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ BAILUS WALKER, JR., University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK WALTER J. WEBER, JR., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Staff JAMES J. REISA, Director DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Associate Director and program Director for Natural Resources and Applied Ecology RICHARD D. THOMAS, Associate Director and Program Director for HumanToxicology and Risk Assessment LEE R. PAULSON, Program Director for Information Systems and Statistics RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources M. GORDON WOLMAN (Chair), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD PATRICK R. ATKINS, Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, PA PETER S. EAGLESON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA EDWARD A. FRIEMAN, Scrips Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA HELEN INGRAM, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ W. BARCLAY KAMB, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA GENE E. LIKENS, New York Botanical Gardens, Millbrook, NY SYUKURO MANABE, Geophysics Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Princeton, NJ JACK E. OLIVER, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY FRANK L. PARKER, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, and Clemson University, Anderson, SC DUNCAN T. PATTEN, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ RAYMOND A. PRICE, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada MAXINE L. SAVITZ, Garrett Ceramic Components. Torrance, CA LARRY L. SMARR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IL STEVEN M. STANLEY, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD WARREN WASHINGTON, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO EDITH BROWN WEISS, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC IRVIN L. WHITE, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Washington, DC Staff STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director LORRAINE WOLF, Assistant Executive Director JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer CARLITA PERRY, Administrative Assistant ROBIN L. LEWIS, Senior Project Assistant

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Preface National parks and wilderness areas are among our nation's greatest treasures. Ranging from inviting coastal beaches and beautiful shorelines to colorful deserts and dramatic canyons to towering mountains and spectacular glaciers, these regions inspire us as individuals and as a nation. A vital part of the enjoyment of these natural wonders is the ability to see them clearly. However, in many of these areas haze has diminished the visibility and significantly affected our enjoyment of nature. Much of this haze is derived from human activities. Congress recognized the importance of visibility in national parks and wilderness areas in the 1977 Clean Air Act and its 1990 amendments. The Clean Air Act specifically established a goal of correcting and preventing anthropogenic visibility impairment in these regions, but relatively little progress has been made toward attaining that goal. Early in 1990 the National Research Council established the Committee on Haze in National Parks and Wilderness Areas to address a number of questions related to visibility and its degradation in these pristine areas, including methods for determining anthropogenic source contributions to haze and for considering alternative source control measures. As part of its charge, the committee completed an interim report in late 1990, Haze in the Grand Canyon, that evaluated the National Park Service's Winter Haze Intensive Tracer Experiment (WHITEX) report of the causes of wintertime haze in the region between the Grand Canyon and Canyonlands National Park.

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas In this final report, the committee addresses the broader-scale issues of regional haze. This report discusses visibility conditions in the United States, the legal and institutional context of visibility protection programs, the scientific aspects of haze formation and visibility impairment, methods for identifying and apportioning the components of haze, and the relationship of emission controls to visibility. The task undertaken by this committee was not an easy one. The subject is controversial, not in the least because significant economic implications can result from the determination of the sources responsible for haze in these regions. Nevertheless, the committee members addressed their charge with enthusiasm and commitment—working long hours during meetings and at their home locations, including numerous discussions over the telephone—to produce what I believe is a fair and accurate assessment of the current understanding of this issue. I have never worked with a more dedicated group of individuals. The committee held seven meetings, including sessions at Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. During our meetings, we were provided with information by many organizations, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Interior's Office of Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Forest Service, the Arizona Salt River Project and their consultants, and Chevron Corporation. F. Sherwood Rowland of the University of California at Irvine provided the committee with information on the use of tracers in the environment. Michael Walsh, an independent consultant, provided information on relationships between mobile source emissions and visibility impairment. Robert Charlson provided the committee with valuable input during the early part of the study. The federal liaison group, representing the sponsoring agencies, and the Arizona Salt River Project were helpful in providing information and data to the committee whenever it was needed. The committee received very useful information and perspectives from many individuals, including the following: John Bachmann, Environmental Protection Agency Robert Bauman, Environmental Protection Agency C. Shephard Burton, consultant to Salt River Project James Byrne, Forest Service

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Stanley Coloff, Bureau of Land Management Jonathan Deason, Department of Interior Carol Ellis, Southern California Edison Company Robert Farber, Southern California Edison Company Mark Green, Desert Research Institute Peter Hayes, Salt River Project Eugene Hester, National Park Service Donna Lamb, Forest Service William Maim, National Park Service Gregory McRae, Carnegie Mellon University Peter Mueller, Electric Power Research Institute John O'Gara, Department of Defense Janice Peterson, Forest Service Roger Pielke, Colorado State University William Pierson, Desert Research Institute Marc Pitchford, Environmental Protection Agency Richard Poirot, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Benjamin Radecki, Bureau of Reclamation David Sandberg, Forest Service Jerry Shapiro, consultant to Salt River Project David Stonefield, Environmental Protection Agency Denise Swink, Department of Energy Ivar Tombach, consultant to Salt River Project Edward Trexler, Department of Energy Jan van Wagtendonk, National Park Service Patrick Zimmerman, National Center for Atmospheric Research Of particular importance was the dedicated and effective support provided to the committee by the National Research Council staff. James Reisa, the director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and program director Robert Smythe (until August 1991) provided us with valuable advice and oversight. Project directors Kathleen Daniel (until February 1991) and Raymond Wassel worked closely and effectively with the committee through the report's preparation. They were each very sensitive to the controversial nature of the issues discussed by the committee and played a vital role in working with the committee to develop a consensus on major issues. They deserve a significant amount of the credit for this report. Lee Paulson did an

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas excellent job as editor. Other staff who contributed greatly to the effort were research assistant William Lipscomb, who helped in the final stages; Ruth Crossgrove, who provided editorial assistance; Tania Williams, who prepared the document for publication; Felita Buckner, Boyce Agnew, and Sandi Fitzpatrick as project assistants; information specialist Anne Sprague; and other dedicated staff of BEST's Technical Information Center. We hope that this report will provide useful recommendations and guidance as the United States works toward a national visibility policy and develops a framework for protecting and preserving the natural visibility in our national parks and wilderness areas—both for present and future generations of Americans. Robert A. Duce Chairman January 7, 1993

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Other Recent Reports of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology Issues in Risk Assessment (1993) Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993) Biologic Markers in Immunotoxicology (1992) Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992) Environmental Neurotoxicology (1992) Hazardous Materials on the Public Lands (1992) Science and the National Parks (1992) Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards (1991) Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I-IV (1991–1993) Human Exposure Assessment for Airborne Pollutants (1991) Monitoring Human Tissues for Toxic Substances (1991) Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution (1991) Decline of the Sea Turtles (1990) Tracking Toxic Substances at Industrial Facilities (1990) Biologic Markers in Pulmonary Toxicology (1989) Biologic Markers in Reproductive Toxicology (1989) Copies of these reports may be ordered from the National Academy Press (800) 624-6242

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   1 1 INTRODUCTION   19     Haze Formation and Visibility Impairment   21     Difficulties in Developing Effective Programs   23     Scope of the Report   26 2 VISIBILITY CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES   29     Current Visibility Conditions   30     Sources of Visibility-Impairing Materials   48     Summary   54 3 LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT   57     Present Visibility Protection Programs   57     Alternative Regulatory Approaches   74     Summary   79 4 HAZE FORMATION AND VISIBILITY IMPAIRMENT   81     Fundamentals of Visibility and Related Measurements   82     The Role of Meteorology   103     Strategies for Visibility Measurement Programs   110     Modeling of Aerosol Effects on Visibility   127

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas     Experimental Design, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control   136     Summary and Conclusions   139 5 SOURCE IDENTIFICATION AND APPORTIONMENT METHODS   143     Criteria for Evaluating Source Identification and Apportionment Methods   146     Critique of Source Identification and Apportionment Methods   154     Single Source Modeling Problems   195     Selection of Models to Address Other Air-Quality Problems   204     Summary   205 6 EMISSION CONTROLS AND VISIBILITY   209     Apportionment of Regional Haze Using a Speciated Rollback Model   211     Potential Visibility Improvements from Emission Controls   215     Relationship Between Visibility and Other Air-Quality Problems   236     Conclusions   236 7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS   239     General Conclusions   239     Recommended Research Strategies   245     Recommended Monitoring Strategies   249     Recommended Measurement Methods   252     Recommended Source Apportionment Modeling Research   256     Recommended Control Technology Research   262     Summary   263 REFERENCES   265

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas APPENDICES   315 A: SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND INFORMATION     B: MEASUREMENT METHODS     C: SOURCE IDENTIFICATION AND APPORTIONMENT MODELS     D: CONTROL TECHNIQUES     E: COMPARING VISIBILITY CONTROL STRATEGIES    

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Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas

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