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Show j I present air standards will allow for major oil shale work i (KpecialtotheVernalExpress) I ByHeleneC.Monberg ' Washington-Present clean air tandards will allow for major oil shale, fr sands and coal developments in the t ct.thwest without any change in the Krds, cording to a staff study f Gently completed by the National Emission on Air Quality. The staff report released by the - remission may or may not be in line th the findings of the 13-member - remission, which is due to make its final report on March 1. Sen. Gary Hart D-Colo., who is chairman of the ; commission, declined comment on any ( the staff findings. The staff is, in general, preservationist-inclined, according to informed in-formed sources, so it is likely to oppose major changes in the 1977 Clean Air Act and the standards written under it. The act comes up for renewal this year by Congress. Because of the complexity of the subject, the Commission was established in the 1977 act to help Congreee with up-to-date data when the act came up for renewal this year. On the subject of visibility, the staff study said, "The prevention of significant deterioration (in the air quality) (PDS) increment program has 'l had and will continue to have minimal K'l impact on either plume blight or regional haze visibility impairment in areas of the Southwest. "Most existing major stationary sources of plume blight visibility im-ip: im-ip: pairment resulting from nitrogen 05 oxides emissions are not proposed" for retrofitting because "new and existing ;': sources will probably not result in te- perceptible visibility improvement," it V said. So the staff does not see ! retrofitting being done on power plants already in operation. The staff report insisted that the PSD program has not significantly affected R: siting of energy projects on a regional basis. Other factors, including access ''! to fuel, water supply,' transportation i networks, tax treatments, wage rates x: are more important, it said. Within a . iff single clean air region, however, the bo PSD program "may have a limited he . influence on siting," the staff report conceded. But not in any way to limit energy development in the Southwest, it insisted. in-sisted. "The PDS program is not expected ex-pected to limit energy development in major energy production areas during the period studies by. the Commission in regional studies. ..Southwestern energy development was studied thru 1995, and is not expected to be limited during that period," even with major energy developments coming on line. Ths standards would not be breached, the Commission staff claimed, 'even under the assumptions for three times as much installed electrical capacity, quadrupled surface mining of coal, development of 1.5 million barrels per day of oil shale and tar sands, and 10 coal gasification plants." Other sources said here following President Reagan's speech on the federal budget on Feb. 4 that energy developments are much more likely to be affected by deep budget cuts in the synthetic fuels program than by clean air standards. There is an indication that the Administration will severely cut back the synthetic fuels program if it doesn't get rid of it altogether. This would have a major impact on both coal gasification and shale oil projects. The Carter Administration asked for some supplemental funding in the 1981 budget for preparation of more oil shale test tracts for leasing in Colorado and Utah in the next year or so. An Interior source said here. on Feb. 6 he expected to see the Reagan Administration reprogram some funds for this purpose. But Capitol Hill sources warned not to expect it, with the massive budget-cutting budget-cutting that the Reagan Administration has in mind for both the 1981 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, and the 1982 fiscal year, which will begin on Oct. 1, 1981. The Commission staff report made a couple of other findings of particular interest to the Mountain West. It said that the 1977 Clean Air Act failed to designate whether the federal land managers in the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in charge of public land or the states are to reclassify land under the PSD program. Neither wants the job, largely because of the "limited time" provided in the act, lack of personnel and money needed for the work. "As a result, consideration of recommended redesignations" on public land is not proceeding, the staff reported. The Act provides that all Clean Air standards are to be met by 1987, a deadline which is unrealistic, according to the Commission Com-mission staff. It said that most areas of the United States would not be able to meet emission standards due to mobile sources if they got on with it, except Denver. Its air pollution problems are so bad, according to the Commission staff, that even with the new model cars and trucks, enforced inspection and maintenance programs, it will fail to meet the ambient carbon monoxide standard by 1987. |