ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAZE

Industry Meets to Discuss Air Quality Regs

By Amy Brouillette, 6-09-05

A private breakfast meeting for VIP industry and government folk was held Wednesday morning at the posh downtown law offices of McKenna Long & Aldridge in Denver. The topic: how potential changes to state and federal air-quality regulations in national parks could affect Colorado’s business community. An invite-only, rather coveted industry briefing—a name-tag-only affair closed to environmental lobbyists and the press (I was shooed away for not having an "official" invitation)—the event was billed as a chance for insiders to get “ahead of the curve� on several key issues, according to an unofficial, confidential invite obtained by New West.

Topping the list is how new regional haze standards in national parks could hamper nearby industry. In April, the National Parks Service published a report reviewing the decreasing visibility and waning air quality in national parks across the United States, including Rocky Mountain National Park (a depressing image for which is shown above), prompting park officials and environmentalists to call on state and local officials to for stricter pollution standards. The EPA is meanwhile closing in on a court-imposed June 15th deadline, when the agency is required by law to issue its final regional haze guidelines for all national parks.

Who was and was not invited to yesterday's rendevous says a lot: industry folk only, no meddlesome environmentalists. Who played host says even more: the law firm, McKenna Long & Aldridge, represents government and private industry that run into legal trouble complying with the Clean Air Act and other state and federal environmental laws.

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