MACTEC HELPING SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL PLANNING ORGANIZATION DEVELOP EMISSION INVENTORIES

GAINESVILLE, FL, March 29, 2005 -- MACTEC Engineering & Consulting (MACTEC E&C) has been retained by the Visibility Improvement - State and Tribal Association of the Southeast (VISTAS) to develop air pollutant emissions inventories. Bruce C. Coles, president of MACTEC E&C and chairman & CEO of MACTEC, Inc., the holding company (www.mactec.com) - made the announcement.

VISTAS is a collaborative effort of state and tribal governments and various federal agencies, established to initiate and coordinate activities associated with managing regional haze, visibility and other air quality issues in the Southeastern United States.

According to MACTEC Gainesville Office Manager Mark C. Diblin, P.G., the key components of the $378,400 contract are development of projected emission levels for 2009 and 2018 for use in air quality models and developing and preparing lists of potential controls that could be applied to various emission sources as part of a regional haze control strategy development. Once the lists are prepared, MACTEC will recommend to VISTAS up to five potential control strategies, which will then be applied to the projected 2009 and 2018 base inventories.

The inventories are used to assess progress towards the visibility goals for regional haze. Diblin said the 2009 inventory will also be used as a starting point for the 10-member states to prepare a State Implementation Plan inventory for fine particulates (PM-2.5).

MACTEC previously prepared a 2002 base year emission inventory for point (air pollutant sources located in a specific place like a utility boiler or steel plant) and area (wildfires, agricultural burnings, etc.) sources in the VISTAS region, which includes 10 states, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Knox County, TN. The current contract calls for developing emission estimates for all emission source categories, which include point, non-road (locomotives, snowmobiles, airplanes, etc.) and on-road mobile (cars, SUVs, etc.).

MACTEC, based in Alpharetta, GA, is a $436 million environmental, engineering, construction management, and infrastructure services firm with 3,000 employees in over 100 offices nationwide. The firm has operated in Gainesville since 1967, serving a wide variety of public and private sector clients in the region, including the University of Florida, the Georgia Environmental Protection Department and the U.S. EPA.

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