Great Smoky Mountains National Park is inviting public comments on a new report which evaluates whether air pollutants for vehicular traffic on the proposed North Shore Road would conflict with Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Conformity regulations or North Carolina’s ability to reach and maintain Federal air quality standards.
The Conformity analysis examines two road construction alternatives which National Park Service managers are now studying to determine the future of the long-debated road in the Swain County area of the national park. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated the portions of Great Smoky Mountains National Park that lie in Swain and Haywood Counties as a non-attainment area for ozone. Under Clean Air Act provisions the State of North Carolina is required to develop a State Implementation Plan that lays out what actions will be taken to reduce ozone below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard by June 15, 2009. The recently released study is part of an EPA-mandated process to ensure that Federal funding goes only to road projects that would not conflict with the State’s need to reach its air quality goals.
Park Superintendent Dale A. Ditmanson stressed that the study conclusions should in no way be taken as an indication that the Park Service has decided to support any of alternatives that call for new road construction.
Superintendent Ditmanson said, “Under EPA regulations we were required to perform this analysis to determine if any of the alternatives were legally off the table, but the NPS decision is yet to be made based upon a whole range of natural, cultural, economic and social considerations.” The report concludes that, even if the full 38-mile North Shore Road were constructed, the annual releases of ozone-causing pollutants in the year 2030 in the North Carolina portion of the Park will still be lower than those emissions were in the 2002 baseline year. Based upon this analysis, the National Park Service could select any of the five North Shore Road alternatives, from No-Action to full construction of the North Shore Road, without affecting the State’s ability to meet its air quality goals or violating Clean Air Act provisions.
The complete Transportation Conformity Analysis Report and full details on the North Shore Road process are available at: www.northshoreinfo.info. Copies are also available for review in the Park at Great Smoky Mountains Park Headquarters, Sugarlands Visitor Center, and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center or from the Federal Highway Administration’s North Carolina Division, 310 New Bern Ave. Suite 310, Raleigh, NC.
Only written comments PERTAINING TO TRANSPORTATION CONFORMITY will be accepted until February 16, 2007. Comments may be mailed to: North Shore Conformity Process, Attn: Superintendent, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738; Fax: (865) 436-1220 or email:grsmcomments@nps.gov and include the subject line: “North Shore Road Conformity”.

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