FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2000
Contacts:
Ursula Kramer, Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4015
Jan Miller, Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4042
A public workshop will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Department of Environmental Quality, 168 N. 1950 West, Salt Lake City, to review and solicit comments on the Western Regional Air Partnership's (WRAP) draft recommendations and options for reducing sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from large industrial sources over the next two decades, including a backstop "cap-and-trade" program to ensure the reductions are achieved.
Western states, tribes and federal agencies that are members of the WRAP will make a final recommendation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Oct. 2, 2000. The draft recommendations and options were developed over the last two years by WRAP committees comprising a diverse group of stakeholders, including industry, environmental groups and academia.
DEQ Executive Director Dianne Nielson and stakeholders participating in the WRAP will explain the recommendations and options and how they may affect Utah. The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and make comments, which will be considered before a final recommendation is made.
"This is an opportunity for western states to protect visibility with a plan developed by western stakeholders," Nielson said. "Furthermore, a market trading program is likely to be the most cost-effective way to do it. We want public comment to help us refine the proposal."
Under EPA's regional haze rule, nine Western states have the option of establishing milestones for reducing SO2 emissions through the year 2018. These milestones must show greater progress toward reducing SO2 emissions than would be achieved by requiring older facilities to install what is known as Best Available Retrofit Technology through a command-and-control regulatory program. The WRAP is seeking comments on how many tons of SO2 emissions should be cut by what industries by 2018, and for the interim years of 2003, 2008 and 2013.
Also under consideration is a backstop cap-and-trade program which would go into effect if the emission reductions established by the milestones are not achieved. Under that program, each source of emissions -- such as power plants and smelters -- would be given a certain number of "allowances" or amount of emissions that it could trade. A source that exceeded its allowance could, for example, purchase allowances from another source that is under its limit.
Documents related to the proposals, prepared by the WRAP's Market Trading Forum and Initiatives Oversight Committee, are available on the WRAP web site at www.wrapair.org (opens in a new window). Copies of all related documents may also be obtained by contacting: Patrick Cummins, Western Governors' Association, 600 17th Street, Suite 1705 S. Tower, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 623-9378, pcummins@westgov.org; or Bill Grantham, National Tribal Environmental Council, 2221 Rio Grande NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104, (505) 242-2175, bgrantham@ntec.org.
ABOUT THE WRAP: The WRAP was created as the successor organization to the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, which made over 70 recommendations in June 1996 for improving visibility in 16 national parks and wilderness areas on the Colorado Plateau. The Partnership promotes, supports and monitors the implementation of those recommendations throughout the West. The WRAP is also implementing regional planning processes to improve visibility in all Western Class I areas, setting up the necessary subgroups to address areas beyond the Colorado Plateau, including the Northwest. The WRAP is jointly administered by the Western Governors' Association (WGA) and the National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC).