3-1 3.0 Regional Planning

In 1999, EPA and affected States and Tri bes agreed to create five Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs) to facilitat e interstate coordination on Regional
Haze SIP/TIPs. The State of New York is a member of t he Mid-Atlantic / Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU) RP O. 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. Envir onmental 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 techni cal and non-technical issues related to regional haze. The primar y 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 Boar d; and the Communications Committee which is charged with developing approache s 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 out reach tools both for stakeholders and3-2 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 Po licy Advisory Group to facilitate

communication with Feder al Land Managers, between the Technical and Communications Committees, and with MANE -VU staff. The Policy Advisory Group provides advice to decisio n-makers on policy questions.

MANE-VU’s work is managed by the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) and carried out by the OTC, t he 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 memb ers of the various committees and workgroups.

The following are highlights of many of the ways MANE-VU member states and tribes have cooperatively addressed regi onal 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 devel oping budget priorities, project rankings, and the eventual federal grant requests.

$ Issue Coordination: MANE -VU established a set conf erence 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 in itiated 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 conferenc e calls and organized workshops with nationally recognized experts. Pres entations on data analysis, BART work, inventory topics, modeling, control measures etc. were an effective education

and coordination tool.

$ Routine Operations: MANE-VU st aff at OTC, MARAMA and NESCAUM established routine operations to addr ess the following topics: budget, grant deliverables/ due dates, workgroup meetings, inter-RPO feedback, haze rule development, etc.