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# Chapter Eight

– Assessment of Current Monitoring Strategy (40 CFR 51.308(g)(7))

Table of Contents

8.1 Assessment

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### 8.1 Assessment

Section 51. 308(g)(7) requires states to review the ir visibility monitoring strategy and discuss any modifications to the strategy as necessary. The primary monitoring network for the measurement and characterization of the contributors to regional haze, both nationwide and in Nevada, is the IMPROVE network. The IMPROVE network documents the visual air quality in
wilderness areas and national parks throughout the United
States. Given that IMPROVE monitoring data from 2000

- 2004 serve as the baseline for the regional haze program and
for tracking progress , the regional haze monitoring strategy must necessarily be based on, or directly comparable to

, the IMPROVE program

. The IMPROVE measurements provide the only long

term record available for tracking visibility improvement or degradation . T herefore

, Nevada intends to rely on the continued avai lability of quality assured data collected through the IMPROVE network to comply with the regional haze monitoring requirement in the RHR.

There is currently one IMPROVE site in Nevada : JARB1

. T his site represent s Nevada’s single
Class I area. Figure 8

- 1 depicts JARB1 and the Jarbidge WA

. The w ilderness a rea lies just north of the physical geographic boundary separating the Columbia Plateau region, includi ng the Snake River Plain, and the Great Basin region to the south. It encompasses the headwaters basin of the Jarbidge River East Fork that flows north from the center of the wilderness area , and the headwaters basin of Marys River that flows south from t he center of the wilderness area , part of the Columbia River/Great Basin hydrographic divide. The t errain encompassed by the
wilderness area cons is ts of deep canyons with steep slopes.

JARB1 is situated in the Jarbidge River Canyon on the northern flank of the Jarbidge Mountains
less than 10 miles south of the Idaho border. JARB1 is located northwest of the wilderness area boundary, within the Snake River Basin. The Jarbidge River Canyon comprises the upper main headwaters of the Jarbidge River proper a nd is oriented south to north, with its mouth several
miles to the north where it drains into the Bruneau River.

51.308(g) . . . Periodic progress reports

must contain at a minimum . . .

(7) A review of the state’s visibility monitoring strategy and any modifications to the strategy as

necessary.Nevada Regional Haze 5

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- 1 . Jarbidge Wilderness Area and Vicinity

Nevada’s 2009 RH SIP found t he IMPROVE site representing Nevada’s Class I area at the Jarbidge WA to be sufficiently representative to support a determination of reasonable progress.
Nevada will continue to use d ata produced by the IMPROVE monitoring network as the basis for

prepara tion of the five

- year progress reports and the ten

- year SIP revisions, each of which relies on analysis of the preceding five years of data. Nevada expects the IMPROVE program monitoring operation and data collection to continue, with the fundamental assu mption that network data collection operations will not change, or if changed, will remain directly comparable to those operated by the IMPROVE program during the 2000 through 2004 RHR baseline period.

T he WRAP has analyzed, reduced and provided informati on on relative contributions to visibility impairment using the data reported by the IMPROVE program

. Nevada has and will continue to use the regional technical support analysis tool found at the Visibility Information Exchange Web System ( VIEWS , last viewed 9/9/2014) and WRAP’s TSS (last viewed 9/9/2014) , as well as other analysis tools and efforts sponsored by the WRAP. The S tate will continue to participate in the regional analysis activities of the WRAP to collectively assess and verify the progress toward reasonable progress goals, as the RHR continues to be implemented.Nevada Regional Haze 5

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Nevada concludes that no modifications to Nevada’s visibility monitoring strategy are necessary
at this time. Because Jarbidge WA is the only Class I federal area in Nevada, JARB1 satisfies the RHR requirement for a monitoring strategy that is representative of all Class I areas in the
State. Nevada is c ommitted to continue using the IMPROVE monitoring network . If economic challenges are faced by the IMPROVE monitoring program, Nevada commits to working with federal agencies as a team to try to resolve the situation.