Regional Clean Air Partnerships and the ETEAM

Abstract

As the planner for the US National Park Service Air Resources Division, I conceived of regional clean air partnerships (RCAPs) as a tool to address air pollution effects on national park and other protected areas' resources on a regional basis. These RCAPs are voluntary associations of land managing and air regulatory agencies, Indian tribes, industries, and environmental groups. They share the costs of monitoring, research, and outreach programs, and cooperate in regulatory reviews. There are several RCAPs in North America. (See attached map.) In September 1998, I presented the RCAP concept at the 11th World Clean Air Congress in Durban, South Africa. While in South Africa, I also presented the concept at an East Cape province symposium. I returned to the province in March to establish an RCAP organizing committee. The committee has already adopted a charter, and has begun a regional air monitoring program. I returned once again last month, where I was keynote speaker at the African Energy and Environment Conference, and also assisted the partnership committee in selecting a visibility monitoring site at Addo Elephant National Park and installing the first of several US donated monitoring instruments. As a result of my African experience, I conceived the ecoteam (ETEAM), a group of internationally experienced experts who could travel to developing countries and help them deal with environmental and economic problems. The first ETEAM effort will be to facilitate an air quality training course in South Africa in November. In September 1996, the National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency began a long term program to monitor environmental stresses on park ecosystems, including establishing a UV-B monitoring program to determine changes in irradiation that may effect human health and ecosystem processes. UV-B monitoring will be recommended as part of most RCAP monitoring programs throughout the world.