http://www.epa.gov/air/visibility/regional.html 

Regional Planning Organizations 

Because the pollutants that lead to regional haze can originate from sources located across broad 

geographic areas, EPA has encouraged the States and Tribes across the U.S. to address visibility 

impairment from a regional perspective. Today, EPA provides funding to five regional planning 

organizations to address regional haze and related issues. These organizations will first evaluate 

technical information to better understand how their States and Tribes impact national park and 

wilderness areas (Class I areas) across the country, and they will then pursue the development of 

regional strategies to reduce emissions of particulate matter and other pollutants leading to regional 

haze.

EPA annually sponsors meetings of the Regional Planning Organizations' (RPOs') national work groups. 

Participants are members of work groups within each RPO.

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The five regional planning organizations are: 
Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP).

 The WRAP is the successor organization to the Grand 

Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, which was formed 

in 1991 and issued recommendations to EPA in 1996 for 

improving the air quality in the 16 Class I areas on the 

Colorado Plateau. The Western States Air Resources Council 

(WESTAR) is working in cooperation with the WRAP. Nine 

WRAP states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, 

New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming) now have the option 

of implementing many of the Commission's 

recommendations within the framework of the national 

regional haze rule. 

Central Regional Air Planning Association 

(CENRAP). Affiliated with the Central States 

Air Resource Agencies (CENSARA). Includes nine states - 

Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, 

Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. 

Midwest Regional Planning Organization (Midwest RPO). 

Affiliated with the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium 

(LADCO). Includes five states - Illinois, 

Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. 

Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE - 

VU). Includes Connecticut, Delaware, the 

District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New 

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode 

Island, Vermont, Northern Virginia, and suburbs of 

Washington, D.C. The Northeast States for Coordinated Air 

Use Management (NESCAUM) and Mid-Atlantic Regional 

Air Management Association (MARAMA) are working in 

cooperation with the OTC on regional haze issues. 

 

The Visibility Improvement State and Tribal Association of 

the Southeast 

(VISTAS) is a collaborative effort of state 

governments, tribal governments, and various federal 

agencies established to initiate and coordinate activities 

associated with the management of regional haze, visibility 

and other air quality issues in the Southeastern United States. 

Member States and Tribes include: the States of Alabama, 

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, 

Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia and the Eastern Band 

of the Cherokee Indians.