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The final "The Supplement to the North Carolina 8-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstration for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC Nonattainment Area" (referred to as the Metrolina area) package was submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) on April 5, 2010. The Supplement documents that the Metrolina area will attain the 1997 8-hour ozone standard by June 15, 2011. With this submittal, the North Carolina Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) has fulfilled the requirements of Section 172(c), 182(a) and 182(b) of the Federal Clean Air Act as amended for the Metrolina area for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.
A request for public hearing notice was open from February 12, 2010 through March 15, 2010. There were no requests to conduct a public hearing; therefore, the tentatively scheduled public hearing for March 22, 2010 was cancelled. A cancellation notice was posted on this webpage and on the NCDAQ web site Calendar, http://www.ncair.org/calendar/. The public comment period was open from February 12, 2010 through March 22, 2010. The comments received during the public comment period and the response to comments are included in Appendix F.
The transmittal letter, narrative and appendices for the Supplement to the Attainment Demonstration are available through the links found below:
Please direct any further questions or comments concerning this SIP submittal to Ms. Laura Boothe at Laura.Boothe.ncdenr.gov or (919) 707-8721.
* * * * * * * * * * June 2007 Attainment Demonstration Submittal * * * * * * * * * *
On June 15, 2007, the final Attainment Demonstration for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan (SIP) was submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and was posted to the NC Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) web site. The transmittal letter, narrative, and appendices from that posting are available through the links found below:
This submittal documented that the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area (referred to as the Metrolina area) would attain the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), fulfilling requirements of Section 172(c), 182(c), and 182(b) of the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended. Additionally, a public hearing regarding this SIP was held at 3:00 PM on April 26, 2007 at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 East Fourth Street, Charlotte, NC 28202.
Mr. James Palmer, USEPA Region 4 Regional Administrator, notified the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) on November 17, 2008 of the USEPA intent to disapprove this attainment demonstration based on air quality measurements from the summers of 2007 and 2008. In the USEPA's opinion, the Metrolina area would not be able to demonstrate attainment of the NAAQS by the end of 2009 and also would not meet the CAA requirements for a one-year extension of the attainment date. Mr. Palmer went on to offer North Carolina the opportunity to voluntarily request to reclassify the North Carolina portion of the Metrolina area to a higher (serious) classification of nonattainment. If approved, this action would establish a new attainment date and require a revision of the attainment demonstration SIP to reflect the additional requirements based on the area's new classification.
On December 19, 2008, the NCDENR withdrew the Metrolina attainment demonstration SIP, citing concerns with the options that the USEPA had offered in their November 17, 2008, letter and the belief that it was possible for the region to qualify for the one-year extension of the attainment date. In the withdrawal letter, the NCDENR committed to revise the modeling and submit an updated SIP by the end of November 2009.
In January 2009, the NCDAQ notified the transportation partners of its intention to re-model the attainment demonstration and requested revised data for 2011, which at that time was believed to be the projected attainment year given the 2007 and 2008 ambient data. The USEPA was copied on this correspondence to keep them informed of the NCDAQ's intentions and progress on the re-modeling effort. Additionally, there were monthly conformity calls with the Metrolina transportation partners, monthly calls for the statewide interagency consultation meetings, and monthly calls between the USEPA Region 4 SIP staff and the NCDAQ Planning staff, all of which had updates on the modeling progress.
On August 14, 2009, the NCDAQ shared an internal draft of the revised attainment demonstration with the USEPA and the transportation partners for a 30-day comment period. The NCDAQ learned at the end of the comment period that the USEPA had issues with the attainment year being 2011. After several weeks of discussions within the USEPA, the NCDAQ was given two options on November 4, 2009:
- Option 1 - The State could re-submit the original attainment demonstration and then submit supplemental information. The supplemental information would include the 2009 ambient air quality data showing the area qualifies for a one-year extension and the 2011 modeling as weight of evidence that the Metrolina region would attain the standard by June 15, 2011.
- Option 2 - The State could use the original 2009 modeling and the revised 2011 modeling to develop a plan to demonstrate the area would attain the standard by June 15, 2011.
The NCDAQ chose Option 1, to re-submit the original attainment demonstration SIP. On, November 12, 2009, the NCDAQ re-submitted the original June 2007 Attainment Demonstration for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area SIP (referenced above) to the USEPA. The NCDAQ is now in the process of coordinating with the USEPA, Region 4 staff as to what will be needed in the supplemental information and is working to submit this necessary information as quickly as possible. Once developed, this supplemental documentation will go through the public hearing process prior to submittal to the USEPA.
The various letters exchanged between the USEPA and the NCDENR/NCDAQ and the re-submittal transmittal letter are available through the links found below:
For any questions or additional information, please send an e-mail to Ms. Laura Boothe at Laura.Boothe@ncdenr.gov and put "Metrolina Attainment Demonstration" in the subject line.
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