CASE NUMBER: 95
CASE MNEMONIC: GRAND
CASE NAME: Grand Canyon Pollution
A. IDENTIFICATION
1. The Issue
Industrial sulfate emissions have significantly contributed to the phenomenon of "visibility impairment" in United States' national parks, as well as contributed to the environmental destruction in these parks due to acid rain. The major contributors responsible for impaired visibility and acid rain in U.S. national parks are regional power plants. The Clean Air Act of 1977 mandates enforcement of visibility standards in the national parks, yet environmental groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund, National Parks and Conservation Association have been extremely critical of its impact. One regional power plant, the Navajo Generating Station, was found to be overwhelmingly responsible for the reduction of visibility in the Grand Canyon due to its sulfate emissions. This case is trade related because the Navajo Generating Station generates power used by Arizona, California, and Nevada.
2. Description
Visibility at national parks was addressed in a specific act of Congress: the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 (see CLEAN case). Section 169A mandated the protection of visibility in what were termed "federal Class I areas." These areas include many western national parks. The law covered both existing visibility impairment and possible impairment from new sources of pollution. The Park Service was given the "affirmative responsibility" to protect "air quality values," including visibility. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was given important oversight and policy responsibilities concerning state enforcement of the Clear Air Act and its amendments. The Park Service has no jurisdiction over pollution that originates externally of a national park.
In March, 1989, a study was released by a commission (appointed by the National Park Service and the National Parks and Conservation Association) headed by John C. Gordon (dean of the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies). This report stated that the national parks system "was caught up in an unprecedented environmental crisis," and that parks themselves were becoming "rare species." In addition the report highlighted that the parks were increasingly threatened by pollution and population growth. In January, 1993 a study released by the National Academy of Sciences reported that little progress has been made in cleaning up the haze in national parks. These studies suggest that the during the years since the 1977 Clean Air Act the problem of visibility impairment in national parks has gotten worse and not better.
Long before the above studies were released, there has been a rising concern over the loss of visibility due to air pollution at many national parks. Some examples of visibility impairment are as follows: visibility from the Moro Rock in the Sequoia National Park has been reduced from 100 to 10 miles or less except for the 8-10 clear days each year, at the Grand Canyon visitors are prevented from seeing across the 10-mile canyon at least one day out of ten.
The primary cause of visibility loss can be attributed to power plants that release sulfur-dioxide and nitrogen-dioxide gases into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels and coal. When sulfur-dioxide is burned, it converts in the atmosphere to a sulfate that is visible as a regional haze. Atmospheric nitrogen-dioxide, on the other hand, results in a brown cloud or plume. The EPA estimates that sulfur and nitrogen oxides from power plants may double by the year 2010.
The Navajo Generating Station in Arizona has been the focus of a sometimes bitter struggle in efforts to clean up the air in the Grand Canyon. The Navajo power plant has been accused by environmental groups as being the primary contributor to visibility loss in the Grand Canyon. In 1982, the Environmental Defense Fund sued so that visibility laws are enforced in this area and won its case. In a court ordered study, the EPA stated that a primary cause of pollution was the Navajo Generating Station a mammoth coal-fired power plant 80 miles from the center of the Grand Canyon located in Page, Arizona. Due to the sulfur-dioxide emissions originating at the Navajo Generating Station, industrial sulfates comprised 1.1 micrograms per cubic meter of air resulting in an 80-mile reduction in visibility in the Grand Canyon.
In 1991, environmental groups and the owners of the Navajo plant (the Federal Bureau of Reclamation, the Salt River Project, Los Angles Department of Water and Power, Arizona Public Service, Nevada Power Co., and Tucson Electric Power Co.) reached an accord to drastically cut sulfur-dioxide emissions. This accord had been secretly negotiated for months between the involved parties. The accord calls for a 90 percent cutback in sulfur-dioxide emissions by 1999, more than the 70 percent proposed by the EPA earlier in 1991. Under the accord, owners of the Navajo plant would install $430 million of air pollution control devices on its three giant smokestacks to clean the air and improve visibility at the Grand Canyon.
This accord is unique because the involved parties voluntarily came together in negotiation and furthermore because the cutbacks in emissions were higher than called for by the EPA. One reason for the plant's ownership coming to the table may be because suits brought by environmental groups against the plant had forced the federal government to call for cuts in the plantūs emissions. The incentive for the plant owners to agree to the accord was that it allowed for adjustments in technical requirements to lower their costs.
Environmental destruction to the national parks is caused by those same factors that result in visibility impairment. Nitrogen-dioxide from car emissions, for example, can chemically change in the atmosphere into ozone gas that can damage trees, as well as humans. Sulfur-dioxide in the atmosphere is transformed to acid rain that damages plant foliage. In the Great Smoky Mountains, for example, acid rain has stripped trees of their leaves in the high altitudes.
3. Related Cases
Keyword Clusters
(1) Trade Product = POWER
(2) Bio-geography = TEMPerate
(3) Environmental Problem = HABITat Loss
4. Draft Author: Lanette Mumford
B. LEGAL Cluster
5. Discourse and Scope: DISagreement and COMPlete
The Navajo accord reached between the owners of the power plant and the environmental groups represented by the Grand Canyon Trust is one of agreement.
6. Forum and Scope: REGION and UNILATeral
The 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments of United States-this amendment, Section 169A mandates the protection of visibility in federal Class I areas that includes many western national parks. A consortium that included the owners of the Navajo Generating Station (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Salt River Project, Los Angles Department of Water and Power, Arizona Public Service Co., Pinnacle West Capital Corp. Nevada Power Co., and the Tucson Electric Power Co.) voluntarily agreed to reduce the plants emissions of sulfur-dioxide.
7. Decision Breadth: 1 (USA)
The negotiations that resulted in the reduction of sulfur-dioxide emissions by the Navajo Generating Station consisted of two parties: the Grand Canyon Trust represented the interests of environmental groups and the owners of the plant negotiated on its own behalf.
8. Legal Standing: LAW
C. GEOGRAPHIC Clusters
9. Geographic Locations
a. Geographic Domain: North America [NAMER]
b. Geographic Site: Western North America [WNAMER]
c. Geographic Impact: USA
10. Sub-National Factors: YES
11. Type of Habitat: DRY
The arid habitat makes the problem more severe than in temperate climates since, similar to polar regions, plant generation is realtively slow.
D. TRADE Cluster
12. Type of Measure: Regulatory STandard [REGSTD]
In the case of the Navajo Generating Station, plant ownership has agreed to cut its sulfur-dioxide emissions by 90 percent by 1999 compared to 1991 levels.
13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: INDireect
The Navajo Generating Station case applied to United States' environmental law that affected the utility trade between Arizona, California, and Nevada.
14. Relation of Measure to Environment Impact
a. Directly Related: YES
b. Indirect Related: YES UTILity
c. Not Related: NO
d. Process Related: YES Pollution Air [POLA]
15. Trade Product Identification: POWER
16. Economic Data
The accord lowers the costs of compliance to an estimated $89 million per year from $106 million that would have been spent under the EPA's plan that is in charge of overseeing implementation of the Clean Air Act's mandates.
17. Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness: LOW
18. Industry Sector: Utility
19. Exporters and Importers: USA and MANY
It is possible that some of this power also reaches Mexico, directly or indirectly.
E . ENVIRONMENTAL Clusters
20. Environmental Problem Type: Pollution Air [POLA]
21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species
Name: White Pines, Evergreen
Type: Plant
Diversity: 1,059 higher plants per 10,000 km/sq (USA)
22. Resource Impact and Effect: HIGH
In a dry climate uncontrolled pollution could be a serious problem.
23. Urgency and Lifetime: MEDium and 100s of years
24. Substitutes: Conservatiion [CONSV]
F. OTHER factors
25. Culture: YES
The consumer and short-term nature of the average American has contributed to the problem. Our culture has demanded that the automobile be a staple in virtually every household. In fact, the average household has more than one car. This dependence on automobiles has greatly contributed to the problem at hand both within and outside of national parks. Our society must be willing to either invest in large scale mass transportation systems or be willing to pay the price for "clean" cars that do not emit noxious fumes in order to control part of our pollution problem. In addition, the U.S. government and society must push for and invest in energy sources that do not rely on coal and fossil fuels. This society should take a long-term approach to its energy needs and stop relying on cheap, politically viable, and polluting energy sources.
26. Trans-Border: NO
27. Human Rights: NO
28. Relevant Literature
Dolan, Maura. "Beloved Outdoor Tradition Is Under Fire at
Yosemite." Los Angeles Times. August 2, 1992, 1, 38
(A).
Egan, Timothy. "National Parks: An Endangered Species."
New York Times. May 27, 1991, 1, 7 (A).
Freemuth, John C. Islands Under Siege: National Parks and
the Politics of External Threats. Lawerence: University
Press of Kansas, 1991.
Perry, Tony. "Delays in Clearing Parks' Haze Criticized."
Los Angeles Times. January 14, 1993. 3, 26 (A).
"Pollution, A New Worry For Smokey the Bear." New York Times
May 5, 1991. 7 (4).
Robbins, Jim. "Pollution Shrouding National Parks." New York
Times. December 3, 1989, 19 (5).
Rosewicz, Rose. "Accord Is Reached to Clean the Air of Grand
Canyon." The Wall Street Journal. August 8, 1991. 5
(A).
Sharecoff, Philip. "Study Warns of Threats to the National
Parks." New York Times. March 19, 1989. 24 (A).