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3.0 Regional Planning

In 1999, EPA and affected States and Tribes agreed to create five Regional 

Planning Organizations (RPOs) to facilitate interstate coordination on Regional 

Haze SIP/TIPs. The State of New York is a member of the Mid-Atlantic / 

Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU) RPO. Members of MANE-VU are listed in 

Table 3-1 below. 

Table 3-1 - MANE-VU RPO Members

Connecticut Pennsylvania 

Delaware Penobscot Nation 

District of Columbia Rhode Island 

Maine St. Regis Mohawk Tribe 

Maryland Vermont 

Massachusetts U.S. Environmental Protection Agency* 

New Hampshire National Park Service* 

New Jersey U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service* 

New York U.S. Forest Service* 

* Non-voting members 

New York’s Regional Haze SIP utilizes data analysis, modeling results and other 

technical support documents prepared for MANE-VU members. By coordinating 

with MANE-VU and other RPOs, New York State has worked to ensure that its 

long term strategy, control measures and BART determinations provide sufficient 

reductions to mitigate impacts of sources from New York State in affected Class I 

areas. 

Since its inception on July 24, 2001, MANE-VU has established an active 

committee structure to address both technical and non-technical issues related to 

regional haze. The primary committees are the Technical Support Committee 

(TSC), charged with assessing the nature and magnitude of the regional haze 

problem within MANE-VU, interpreting the results of technical work, and reporting 

on such work to the MANE-VU Board; and the Communications Committee 

which is charged with developing approaches to inform the public about the 

regional haze problem in the region and making any recommendations to the 

MANE-VU Board to facilitate that goal. The Communications Committee has 

become an effective means to develop outreach tools both for stakeholders and 
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the public regarding regional issues within MANE-VU’s member states. 

Ultimately, policy decisions are made by the MANE-VU Board. In addition to the 

formal working committees, there are also three standing working groups of the 

TSC. They are broken down by topic area: Emissions Inventory, Modeling, and 

Monitoring/Data Analysis Workgroups. 

MANE-VU has also established a Policy Advisory Group to facilitate 

communication with Federal Land Managers, between the Technical and 

Communications Committees, and with MANE-VU staff. The Policy Advisory 

Group provides advice to decision-makers on policy questions. 

MANE-VU’s work is managed by the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) and 

carried out by the OTC, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association 

(MARAMA) and the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management 

(NESCAUM). The states, along with federal agencies and professional staff from 

OTC, MARAMA and NESCAUM, are members of the various committees and 

workgroups. 

The following are highlights of many of the ways MANE-VU member states and 

tribes have cooperatively addressed regional haze, most of which New York 

State has participated in. 

$ Budget Prioritization: MANE-VU developed a process to coordinate 

MARAMA, OTC and NESCAUM staff in developing budget priorities, project 

rankings, and the eventual federal grant requests. 

$ Issue Coordination: MANE-VU established a set conference call and meeting 

schedule for each of its committees and workgroups. In addition, its Air 

Directors regularly discuss pertinent issues. 

$ SIP Policy and Planning: MANE-VU has initiated a process to track the key 

milestones needed for SIP development and developed a SIP template with 

the assistance of MANE-VU states/tribes. 

 

$ Capacity Building: To educate its staff and members, MANE-VU included 

technical presentations on conference calls and organized workshops with 

nationally recognized experts. Presentations on data analysis, BART work, 

inventory topics, modeling, control measures etc. were an effective education 

and coordination tool. 

$ Routine Operations: MANE-VU staff at OTC, MARAMA and NESCAUM 

established routine operations to address the following topics: budget, grant 

deliverables/ due dates, workgroup meetings, inter-RPO feedback, haze rule 

development, etc.