Planning and Modeling Program

Regional Haze

The Regional Haze Rule was promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 1, 1999. The rule was designed to protect and improve the visibility in 156 of the country's national parks and wilderness areas. These areas include many of our best known and most treasured natural areas, such as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, Shenandoah, the Great Smokies, Acadia, and the Everglades. The Division will develop and submit a SIP (State Implementation Plan) to protect the national parks and wilderness areas both in the State of Nevada and neighboring states.

Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART)

The U.S. EPA released a proposed BART (Best Available Retrofit Technology) rule which is required by the Regional Haze rule. This rule would require older facilities who fall in certain categories, to install the best Available Retrofit Technology. The final BART rule will be finalized by June 15, 2005. The US EPA finalized the "Regional Haze Regulations and Guidelines for Best Available Retrofit Technology Determinations" on June 15, 2005. The rule was published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2005.

Increment Tracking

PSD stands for “Prevention of Significant Deterioration.” PSD is a federally mandated construction permitting program for large sources (such as large mines, power plants, chemical plants etc.). One of the significant components of the PSD program is the requirement to evaluate increment consumption. Increment is the maximum allowed increase in concentration of a pollutant, above a baseline concentration in an area. The Nevada Bureau of Air Quality developed the "Increment Tracking System" to manage increment.

Emissions Inventory

The Planning and Modeling Program collects and prepares emissions data annually for the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) of US EPA and for NDEP planning and billing purposes.

Pahrump Non-attainment

The Town of Pahrump is located in the Pahrump Valley of Southern Nevada (hydrographic area 162) approximately 60 miles west of Las Vegas and 60 miles east of Death Valley. The Pahrump valley is subject to high winds and these winds often create dust storms. Twenty seven (27) exceedances of the National 24-hour ambient air standard were recorded during 2001, 2002 and 2003. Under the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA), these exceedances mean that Pahrump is no longer attaining the 24-hour standard (the Federal and State ambient air quality standard for PM10 is 150 ug/m3 and the annual standard is 50 ug/m3.) The US EPA, the State, the Pahrump Town Board and Nye County have agreed to use the MOU approach instead of the SIP submittal. Once the MOU is signed, Nye County will have until 2009 to bring the area back into attainment.

Fugitive Dust

Particulate matter," also known as particle pollution or PM, is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. Particle pollution is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles. Particulate matter can cause adverse health and environmental effects.

What's New

Coming soon...