Thursday, April 11, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
State control of air pollution is needed before costly federal regulations keep the public from enjoying the West's national parks, citizens at a public hearing warned.
Former Boeing engineer Larry Ryan told about 20 people at the hearing Wednesday that since air quality standards in the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion national parks came by federal mandate, the public could be locked out of such places if strict rules are adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency at the end of 1997.
Ryan and others urged state control of pollution solutions to avoid costly federal waste.
Federal government intervention and the scientific basis for pollution controls and costs became the themes during the two-hour hearing of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission at the Desert Research Institute.
At first glance at the proposed federal regulations, Nevadans would have to cough up $900 million a year for the harshest measures to clean the air, although the state contributes approximately 1 to 2 percent to the Grand Canyon's pollution.
But newer estimates with more information have lowered such drastic figures, said Dennis Schwers, director of environmental health and safety for Nevada Power Company. "It certainly isn't going to be $900 million," he said.
Further studies on what's in the air and how much it will cost to clean it up are two major recommendations in the commission's draft recommendations.
Actually, the recommendations call for an estimated $10 from every person living in the West by the year 2040 to protect air quality in nine Western states. All Western states but Idaho joined the commission.
James Sohns, president of the Nevada Car Association, urged the commission to back up and examine what it is doing before passing recommendations on to the EPA in June. Cleaner fuels and vehicle maintenance can help clear the air, he said, but federal regulations are often cumbersome.
He suggested statewide smog emissions tests. Nevada law demands annual smog checks for vehicles registered in Clark and Washoe counties.
"It doesn't stop," Sohns said. "Are we doing what is right, or are we just spending taxpayers' dollars?"
The problem with finding a solution for Southwestern air pollution is the complex makeup of dirty air sources. Western air pollution differs from Eastern smog by its ingredients, said Mark Pitchford, a scientist who served on the commission's technical committee.
No single industry or pollutant causes the air pollution problem in the Southwest, he said. Sulfates from power plants, organics from man and nature, fire smoke, carbon from fires and diesel exhaust and dust from man's activities all contribute.
Computer models created early in the studies have been replaced by newer, better ones, Pitchford said.
"This is a Herculean task to model an area half the size of the United States," he said. "If we want to improve visibility, we're going to have to make improvements wherever we can."
If the U.S. Forest Service carries out prescribed burning of grasses, shrubs and dead trees, the smoke will overwhelm any other efforts to improve the Colorado Plateau's air, said Robert Hadfield of the Nevada Association of Counties.
"Smoke is going to be a real problem," said Hadfield, a member of the commission.
The commission is recommending the same air pollution regulations until 2000, while improving monitoring and computer models.
Southern Nevada Sierra Club spokesman Randy Harness said he enjoyed the Grand Canyon vistas during the weekend. "But I couldn't see Las Vegas for the haze," he said of his return home.
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