APPENDIX D 

EVIDENCE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION; 

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND NEVADA’S RESPONSES 

CONTENTS 

D.1 EVIDENCE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION......................................................1

 

 D.1.1 Public Notice of Hearing.......................................................................................3 

 D.1.2 Newspaper Affidavits............................................................................................5 

 D.1.3 Public Hearing Agenda..........................................................................................9 

 D.1.4 SIP Approval Authority........................................................................................10 

D.2 PUBLIC COMMENTS AND NEVADA’S RESPONSES..............................11 

 D.2.1 Oral Comments at the Public Hearing..................................................................13 

 

 D.2.2 Written Comments and Nevada’s Responses.......................................................15 

 

D.2.2.1 Summary.................................................................................................15 

 

D.2.2.2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency..................................................17 

2.2.2.1 Comment Letter........................................................................19 

2.2.2.2 Nevada’s Response...................................................................23 

 

D.2.2.3 U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service................................27 

2.2.3.1 Comment Letter.........................................................................29 

2.2.3.2 Nevada’s Response....................................................................59 

 

 D.2.2.4 Consortium of Conservation Organizations............................................85 

2.2.4.1 Comment Letter.........................................................................85 

2.2.4.2 Technical Review by Air Resource Specialists, Inc..................97 

2.2.4.3 Nevada’s Response..................................................................133 

SECTION D.1 

EVIDENCE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 

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D.1.1 PUBLIC NOTICE OF HEARING

NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD BEGINNING APRIL 17, 2009 

AND A PUBLIC HEARING ON MAY 20, 2009

conducted by the 

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection 

Bureau of Air Quality Planning 

Pursuant to the public hearing requirements in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 51 

section 102, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) is issuing the following 

notice. 

NDEP has scheduled a public hearing on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00

p.m. The hearing will be held at the Western Nevada College campus located at 2201 West 

College Parkway, Room 103 of the Reynolds Building, in Carson City, Nevada. The purpose of the 

hearing is to receive comments from all interested persons regarding Nevada’s Draft Regional 

Haze State Implementation Plan (RH SIP). 

In 1977, Congress amended the Clean Air Act (CAA) establishing a national goal to protect visibility 

in Class I federal areas – primarily national parks and wilderness areas. The amendments called 

for the “prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in 

mandatory class I Federal areas which impairment results from manmade air pollution.” Nevada 

has one mandatory Class I area, the Jarbidge Wilderness Area, in the northeast corner of the state 

managed by the U.S. Forest Service. 

In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted the Regional Haze Rule (RHR; 40 CFR 

51.308). The intent of the RHR is to improve visibility over the next 56 years in all mandatory 

Class I areas across the country. It requires each affected state to develop and adopt a plan that 

will improve the haziest days and protect the clearest days at each mandatory Class I area in the 

state with a goal of returning to natural visibility conditions by the year 2064. Each plan must 

provide a comprehensive analysis of natural and man-made sources of haze for each mandatory 

Class I area in the state and contain strategies to control anthropogenic emissions that contribute 

to haze. The plan must also address the transport of haze across state boundaries. 

NDEP has prepared a draft RH SIP to meet the requirements of the federal RHR. Though national 

visibility goals are to be achieved by the year 2064, the current plan meets the requirements of 

improving visibility for the most impaired days and ensuring no degradation in visibility for the 

least impaired days for the period ending in 2018, the first planning period in the federal rule. 

Nevada’s RH SIP contains strategies and elements related to each requirement of the federal rule. 

The draft SIP and related materials are available on the NDEP website at: 

http://ndep.nv.gov/baqp/planning.html. Access to the draft SIP may also be obtained by 

contacting Adele Malone at NDEP, 901 S. Stewart Street, Suite 4001, Carson City, NV 89701; (775) 

687-9356; or e-mail to amalone@ndep.nv.gov. Persons wishing to comment on the proposed SIP 

during the comment period should submit their comments in writing either in person or by mail or 

fax to Adele Malone at the NDEP address, or by FAX at (775) 687-6396. Oral comments will be 

received at the Hearing. Written comments will be received by NDEP at the above address or at 

the Hearing from April 17 through May 20, 2009 and will be retained and considered. 

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Please bring the foregoing notice to the attention of all persons you know that may be interested in 

this matter. 

This notice has been published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Reno Gazette Journal newspapers. It has been posted

at the NDEP offices in Carson City and Las Vegas, at the State Library in Carson City and at County libraries throughout Nevada. 

Members of the public who are disabled and require special accommodations or assistance at the meeting are requested to

notify Adele Malone or Cathy Douglas (775-687-9349) no later than 3 working days before the hearing. 4/14/09 

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D.1.2 NEWSPAPER AFFIDAVITS 

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D.1.3 PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA 

Public Hearing on 

NEVADA’S DRAFT REGIONAL HAZE STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 

Western Nevada College 

2201 West College Parkway 

Reynolds Bldg, Room 103 

Carson City, NV 

May 20, 2009 

9:30 AM – 12:00 Noon 

AGENDA1

I. Welcome; introductions. 

II. Purpose of the Hearing is to: 

• Present Nevada’s proposed Regional Haze State Implementation Plan, and 

• Receive comments from all interested persons regarding the Plan. 

III. Approval of agenda; Outline Hearing Procedure. 

IV. SIP timeline 

• Response to comments 

• Submittal to U.S. EPA 

• Action by U.S. EPA 

V. Background; 1999 Regional Haze Rule/Clean Air Act. 

VI. Presentation of RH SIP findings, plan, commitments. 

VII. Public comments and questions; discussion. Public comment may be limited to

five minutes per person at the discretion of the chairperson. The chair 

reserves the right to dispense with repetitive comments on a given topic. 

VIII. Adjourn. 

Members of the public who are disabled and require special accommodations or assistance at the meeting are requested to 

notify Adele Malone at 901 S. Stewart St., Ste. 4001, Carson City NV 89701 or 775-687-9349, at least 20 hours in advance 

of the Hearing. 

The proposed agenda is also posted on the NDEP website at http://ndep.nv.gov/, as well at the NDEP offices in 

Carson City and Las Vegas, at the State Library in Carson City and at County libraries throughout Nevada. 

 

1

 There are no action items on the agenda. 

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D.1.4 SIP APPROVAL AUTHORITY 

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SECTION D.2 

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND NEVADA’S RESPONSES

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