Applications for such permits are rare.
"Ideally," the statement continued, "the closures around the cities would be lifted and there would be no need for such permits.
For example, California and China have already initiated cooperation agreements on pollution reduction in its cities and on climate change, including pilot projects on trading carbon permits with California, the world's largest market for such permits.
If that applies to you, you may apply for such permit.
Lee Fuller, a vice president for government relations with the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said that was because the E.P.A. had never followed up by creating rules and procedures for obtaining such permits and submitting them for public comment.
Nearly all states issue licenses to carry concealed firearms, but the criteria for granting such permits vary widely, and it is now, sensibly, up to each state to decide whether to accept another state's permits.
The company's application for such a permit was denied, because it is not a nonprofit organization, the only kind allowed such permits, said Tom Cocola, the department's spokesman.
In fact, a few months later, in March, a judge at the circuit level — the higher court in Virginia — denied Mr. French's application for a concealed weapons permit because a five-year wait after a psychiatric commitment is required for such a permit.
The coalition's lawyers have said they will fight the city if it applies for such a permit.
The decision by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation was hailed by environmental groups and Richard L. Brodsky, a state assemblyman, who together filed a lawsuit to press for such a permit.
In 1998, the Church petitioned for such a permit but concerned residents objected to its plans.
