Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993 TAG: 9310210271
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
North Carolina can do the same, and South Carolina and Kentucky.
But air pollution does not stop at the state line. And the responsibility for reducing air pollution does not stop with state bureaucrats.
Recognizing the need for a cooperative, regional approach, government officials, business leaders and citizens from eight Southeastern states have formed the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative.
Dubbed SAMI, the broad-based group has set itself an ambitious goal - to reach beyond the strict requirements of the federal Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 by establishing a regional air quality management strategy.
It's the first, and so far only volunteer effort based on an air ecosystem, said coordinator Leslie Cox.
SAMI will hold its first official meeting at the Salem Civic Center Nov. 15-17. It is open to the public.
The initiative sprang from a growing concern about harmful effects of air pollution on visibility, streams, soils and vegetation in the national parks and forests in southern Appalachia.
Smog obscures views most summer days in Shenandoah National Park.
Ozone, harmful on the Earth's surface, is weakening trees in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, breaking down their natural resistance to disease and bugs.
Acid rain, caused by sulfur dioxide and other pollutants, kills aquatic life in the James River Face Wilderness.
Wilderness areas and national parks are designated as Class I for air quality, meaning they receive the highest level of federal protection. Air pollution levels in such areas in the southern Appalachian region are acceptable by federal standards, but still threaten the resources and beauty of the mountains.
The eight states involved are the Virginias, the Carolinas, Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee. Also included in SAMI:
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
All power utilities in the region and furniture, textile and paper companies.
Universities and colleges.
Economic development groups and chambers of commerce.
Grass-roots environmental groups and national groups such as the National Parks and Conservation Association, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center.
The need for a regional, inter-agency, broad-based effort became apparent during the state permitting process for new pollution sources that would have an adverse effect on nearby federal land.
In Virginia, Shenandoah National Park filed a notice of adverse impact last year after reviewing proposals for new coal- and wood-burning power plants.
With the help of a $400,000 budget from Congress, a group of state and federal officials launched SAMI at a meeting in Atlanta last summer. Since then, the group has received another $450,000 from the EPA.
Cox, the SAMI coordinator and only full-time paid employee, said some of the money has been spent on two air monitors in wilderness areas. Other projects include computer modeling to predict where air pollution will end up, and studies of how it affects ecosystems.
Participants will focus on overall air quality, visibility issues, effects of ozone on vegetation and acidification of streams.
But, she added, "SAMI won't be just another 20-year-long study." The participants intend to make specific recommendations for industries and for the eight states' legislatures. They also want to improve relations and cooperation between state and federal agencies, and to influence national policy.
SAMI also will undertake a public education campaign to discuss how routine, individual actions contribute to air pollution, Cox said. Forty percent of Atlanta's smog, for example, comes from cars, Cox said.
by CNB