Description: <span style="font-family:"Avenir Next W01", "Avenir Next W00", "Avenir Next", Avenir, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size:16px;">This polygon layer depicts all Class 1 areas under the Clean Air Act:</span><div style="font-family:"Avenir Next W01", "Avenir Next W00", "Avenir Next", Avenir, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size:16px;"><ol><li>Mandatory Class 1 Federal Areas</li><li>Tribal-Designated “Non-Federal” Class I Areas <br /></li><li>Other Class 1 areas that are not protected under visibility rules </li></ol>Class I areas are areas of special national or regional natural, scenic, recreational, or historic value for which the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/nsr/prevention-significant-deterioration-basic-information" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;" target="_blank">Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD)</a> regulations provide special protection. The Federal Land Manager (FLM), including the State or Indian governing body, where applicable, is responsible for defining specific Air Quality Related Values (AQRV's) for an area and for establishing the criteria to determine an adverse impact on the AQRV's. If a FLM determines that a source will adversely impact AQRV's in a Class I area, the FLM may recommend that the permitting agency deny issuance of the permit, even in cases where no applicable increments would be exceeded. However, the permitting authority makes the final decision to issue or deny the permit.</div><div style="font-family:"Avenir Next W01", "Avenir Next W00", "Avenir Next", Avenir, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size:16px;"><br /><div style="font-family:inherit;"><b>Mandatory Class 1 Federal Areas (</b>protected under the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/visibility/regional-haze-program" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;" target="_blank">Regional Haze Program</a>): Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), all international parks, national wilderness areas and national memorial parks that exceed 5,000 acres, and of national parks that exceed 6,000 acres are designated as mandatory federal Class I areas in order to preserve, protect and enhance air quality. US EPA and other Agencies have been monitoring <a href="https://www.epa.gov/visibility/visibility-parks-and-wilderness-areas" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box;">visibility in national parks and wilderness areas</a> since 1988. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a major effort to improve air quality in national parks and wilderness areas. The Regional Haze Rule calls for state and federal agencies to work together to improve visibility in <a href="https://www.epa.gov/visibility/list-areas-protected-regional-haze-program" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;" target="_blank">156 national parks and wilderness areas</a> such as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Great Smokies and Shenandoah.<br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><b>Tribal-Designated “Non-Federal” Class I Areas</b>: Section 164 of the CAA, gives states and tribes the ability to request redesignation from Class II to Class I called “non-federal” Class I areas. <a href="https://www.epa.gov/tribal-air/class-i-redesignation" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;" target="_blank">Redesignation</a> is one of the tools available to tribes (and states) under the CAA to afford special protection to air quality. Since late 1970s – and as of July 2023, the tribes have redesignated 7 additional areas to also be Class I. These are:</div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><ol><li>The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana (The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation)</li><li>The Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana</li><li>The Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana (The Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation); </li><li>The Spokane Indian Reservation, Washington (The Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation)</li><li>Forest County Potawatomi Reservation, Wisconsin (The Forest County Potawatomi Community)</li><li>Kalispell Indian Reservation, Washington</li><li>Yavapai-Apache Indian Reservation, Arizona</li></ol></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><b>Other Class 1 areas that are not protected under visibility rules</b>: Rainbow Lake Wilderness in Wisconsin and Bradwell Bay Wilderness in Florida, are two Class I areas where visibility is not considered an AQRV and therefore does not require a visibility impairment analysis.<br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;">Features are drawn at all scales. Labels are drawn at scales greater than 1:3 million. The data displayed in this web service were assembled by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards using data from various federal agencies.<br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><div style="font-family:inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><br /></div><div style="font-family:inherit;"><div style="font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box; margin-bottom:1.5em;"><div style="font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box;"><div style="font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box; margin:0px; padding-bottom:0px;"><p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; box-sizing:border-box; padding-bottom:1.5em;"><b>Additional Info:</b></p><p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; box-sizing:border-box; padding-bottom:1.5em;">The rule requires the states, in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and other interested parties, to develop and implement air quality protection plans to reduce the pollution that causes visibility impairment. The first State plans for regional haze were due in December 2007. States, tribes, and five multi-jurisdictional <a href="https://www.epa.gov/visibility/visibility-regional-planning-organizations" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box;">regional planning organizations</a> worked together to develop the technical basis for these plans. Comprehensive periodic revisions to these initial plans are currently due in 2021, 2028, and every 10 years thereafter.</p><p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; box-sizing:border-box; padding-bottom:1.5em;"><a href="https://www.epa.gov/visibility/regional-haze-state-implementation-milestones" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box;">State Implementation Milestones</a> - Timeline for state implementation activities, beginning in 1999. </p></div></div></div><div style="font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box;"><p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; box-sizing:border-box; padding-bottom:1.5em;"><a href="https://www.epa.gov/visibility/forms/contact-us-about-visibility-and-haze" style="color:rgb(0, 97, 155); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit; box-sizing:border-box;">Contact Us</a> to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.</p></div></div></div></div>
Copyright Text: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS