What is Regional Haze?
Emissions from the activities mentioned above generally span broad geographic areas and can be transported great distances, sometimes hundreds or thousands of miles. Consequently, haze occurs regionally throughout the nation. What is a Class I Area? The Clean Air Act defines mandatory Class I Federal areas as certain national parks (over 6000 acres), wilderness areas (over 5000 acres), national memorial parks (over 5000 acres), and international parks that were in existence as of August 1977. What are the Consequences of the New Regional Haze Regulations? The Regional Haze Regulations call for States to establish goals for improving visibility in national parks and wilderness areas and to develop long-term strategies and regulations for reducing emissions of air pollutants that cause visibility impairment. The steps States take to implement these regulations are expected to have the additional benefit of improving visibility in broad areas across the country beyond the Class I areas ad
