ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

[EPA-R04-OAR-2009-0561-201006 ; FRL- ] 

Adequacy Status of the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, North Carolina 1997 PM?,5 Attainment 

Demonstration Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget for Transportation Conformity Purposes 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Adequacy. 

SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public of its finding that the nitrogen oxides 

(NOx) motor vehicle emissions budget (MVEB) in the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, North 

Carolina (hereafter referred to as the Hickory Area) attainment demonstration for the 1997 PM2,5 

standard, submitted on August 21, 2009, by the North Carolina Department of Environment and 

Natural Resources (NCDENR), is adequate for transportation conformity purposes. EPA is also 

making an insignificance finding for direct particulate matter (PM) through the transportation 

conformity adequacy process for the Hickory Area. The Hickory Area is comprised of the entire 

county of Catawba in North Carolina. On March 2, 1999, the District of Columbia Circuit Court 

ruled that submitted state implementation plans (SIPs) cannot be used for transportation 

conformity determinations until EPA has affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of 

EPA's finding, the Hickory Area must use the NOx MVEB from the submitted Hickory, North 

Carolina 1997 PM2.5 attainment demonstration for future conformity determinations, and the 

Hickory Area is not required to perform a regional emissions analysis for direct PM2.5 in future 

PM2,5 transportation conformity determinations for the 1997 annual PMZ.5 standard. 
DATES: The adequacy finding for the NOx MVEB and the insignificance finding for direct 

PM2.5 are effective [insert date 15 days after date of publication in the Federal Register ] . 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanetta Somerville, Environmental 

Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, Air Quality 

Modeling and Transportation Section, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 . Ms. 

Somerville can also be reached by telephone at (404) 562-9025, or via electronic mail at 

somerville .amanetta(&,epa.gov. The finding is available at EPA's conformity Web site : 

http ://www.epa. ov/otaq/transp htm (once there, click on the "Transportation Conformity" text 

icon, then look for "Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions"). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Today's notice is simply an announcement of findings that EPA has already made. 

EPA Region 4 sent a letter to NCDENR on January 20, 2010, stating that the 2009 NOx MVEB 

in the 1997 PM2,5 attainment demonstration for Hickory, dated August 21, 2009, is adequate. 

The letter also states that direct PM2,5 is insignificant for the Hickory Area, therefore no regional 

emissions analysis is required . EPA posted the availability of the Hickory Area MVEB and 

insignificance demonstration on EPA's Web site on September 8, 2009, as part of the adequacy 

process, for the purpose of soliciting comments. The comment period ran from September 8, 

2009, through October 8, 2009. EPA's findings have also been announced on EPA's conformity 

Web site : http ://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/index .htm, (once there, click "Transportation 
Conformity" text icon, then look for "Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions"). The adequate 

NOx MVEB is provided in the following table: 

HICKORY AREA NOx MVEB 

[kilograms per day] 

Catawba County 

2009 

2,887,955 

Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act, as amended 

in 1990. EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation plans, programs and projects 

conform to state air quality implementation plans and establishes the criteria and procedures for 

determining whether or not they do. Conformity to a SIP means that transportation activities will 

not produce new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of 

the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). 

The criteria by which EPA determines whether a SIP's MVEB is adequate for 

transportation conformity purposes are outlined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

93 .118(e)(4) . Additionally, the criteria by which EPA determines whether a particular 

pollutant/precursor is an insignificant contributor to the air quality problem in an area can be 

found at 40 CFR 93.109(k). Insignificance findings are based on a number of factors, including 

the percentage of motor vehicle emissions in context of the total SIP inventory, the current state 

of air quality as determined by monitoring data for that NAAQS, the absence of SIP motor 

vehicle control measures, and historical trends and future projections of the growth of motor 

vehicle emissions. EPA's rationale for the allowance of insignificance findings can be found in 

the July 1, 2004, revision to the transportation conformity rule at 69 Federal Register (FR) 
40004. Specifically, the rationale is explained on page 40061 under the subsection entitled "B . 

Areas With Insignificant Motor Vehicle Emissions." Please note that an adequacy review is 

separate from EPA's completeness review, and it also should not be used to prejudge EPA's 

ultimate approval of the SIP. Even if EPA finds the MVEB adequate or makes an insignificance 

finding through the adequacy process, the Agency may later disapprove the SIP. 

EPA has described the process for determining the adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in 

a May 14, 1999, memorandum entitled "Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 

1999 Conformity Court Decision". EPA has followed this guidance in making this adequacy 

determination. This guidance is incorporated into EPA's July 1, 2004, final rulemaking entitled 

" Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments for the New 8-hour Ozone and PMz.5 National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards and Miscellaneous Revisions for Existing Areas; Transportation 

Conformity Rule Amendments : Response to Court Decision and Additional Rule Changes" (69 

FR 40004). 

Within 24 months from the effective date of this notice, the transportation partners will 

need to demonstrate conformity to the new MVEB if the demonstration has not already been 

made, pursuant to 40 CFR 93 .104(e). (See 73 FR 4419 (January 24, 2008)) . 

Additionally, the Transportation Conformity Rule at 40 CFR 93.109(k) states that a 

regional emissions analysis is no longer necessary for direct PM2.5 if EPA finds, through the 

adequacy or approval process, that regional motor vehicle emissions are an insignificant 

contributor to the air quality problem for that pollutant/precursor as demonstrated in the SIP. 

The insignificance finding should be noted in all future conformity determinations, and does not 

relieve the area of meeting all other transportation conformity requirements . 
Authority: 42 U.S .C . 7401 et seq. 

Dated: 

FEB 17 `t0i0 

Feb 17, 2010 

Acting Regional Administrator, 

Region 4. 
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION 4 

ATLANTA FEDERAL CENTER 

61 FORSYTH STREET 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-8860 

January 20, 2010 

B. Keith Overcash, Director 

Division of Air Quality 

Department of Environment 

and Natural Resources 

1601 Mail Service Center 

Raleigh, North Carolina 27699 

Dear Mr. Overcash: 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed the Hickory, North Carolina, 

1997 Particulate Matter (PMZ,5) attainment demonstration and direct PM2.5 insignificance finding, 

dated August 21, 2009, pursuant to section 93.118(e)(4) of the Transportation Conformity Rule 

(40 C.F .R. Part 93, Subpart A). The Transportation Conformity Rule identifies limited technical 

and administrative criteria that must be used in determining adequacy of a submitted State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) motor vehicle emissions budget (MVEB) for transportation 

conformity purposes. We have determined that the Hickory, North Carolina 1997 PM2.5 nitrogen 

oxides (NOx) MVEB is adequate and we find that the submitted PM2.5 SIP demonstrates that 

direct PM2.5 emissions are an insignificant contributor to the PM2.5 air quality problem. 

The Hickory, North Carolina 1997 PM2.5 attainment demonstration has a MVEB for NOx 

for 2009 and an insignificance finding for direct PMZ.5 . The MVEB is 2,887,955 kilograms per 

day for NOx. This MVEB meets the standard requirement that any MVEB must meet before it 

can be used to determine conformity for a transportation improvement program or long range 

transportation plan. This adequacy finding does not relate to the merits of the SIP submittal nor 

does it indicate whether the submittal meets the requirements for approval . 

The Transportation Conformity Rule in Section 93.109(k) states that a regional emissions 

analysis is no longer necessary for specific pollutants or precursors if EPA finds through the 

adequacy or approval process that a SIP demonstrates that regional motor vehicle emissions are 

an insignificant contributor to the air quality problem for that pollutant/precursor . A finding of 

insignificance does not change the requirement for a regional analysis for other pollutants or 

precursors and does not change the requirement for a hot spot analysis. EPA opened a comment 

period on the adequacy of the NOx MVEB and the PM2.5 insignificance finding contained in the 

Hickory, North Carolina PM2.5 attainrnent demonstration by posting it on our website on 

September 8, 2009 (See www.epa.g_ov/otaq/transp/conform/adequac .y htm). The comment 

period closed on October 8, 2009. No comments were received during EPA's adequacy 

comment period. 

Internet Address (URL) " http://www.epagov 

Racycled/Racyclabte . Printed with Vegetable 00 Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 30% Postconsumet) 
EPA notes that the D.C. Circuit issued a decision on July 11, 2008, vacating the Clean 

Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D:C. Cir. 2008). On 

September 24, 2008, EPA and other parties in the case filed motions for rehearing asking the 

D.C. Circuit to reconsider its decision in the case. On December 23, 2008, the court granted 

EPA's motion for rehearing to the extent it agreed to remand CAIR without vacating it. 

However, the court made no other changes to the July 11 opinion, remanding the case to EPA for 

further rulemaking consistent with this opinion. Therefore, the CAIR rule remains in place, but 

EPA must promulgate another rule consistent with the court's July 11 opinion. EPA has 

reviewed the submittal and the insignificance demonstration in light of the remand of the CAIR 

rule and concluded that the submittal and the insignificance demonstration meets the conformity 

rule's criteria found at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) and 93.109(k), respectively . In particular, the 

submitted SIP demonstrates that it would be unreasonable to expect that this area would 

experience enough motor vehicle emissions growth such that a violation of the 1997 annual 

PMZ,5 national ambient air quality standards would occur. EPA bases this conclusion on the 

overall emissions from all sources in the nonattainment area, the low percentage of mobile 

source emissions contributing to the total emissions in the area, and the current state of air 

quality. 

More information on SIPs and adequacy reviews is available on the EPA web site . EPA 

will soon publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing this adequacy finding. The Federal 

Register will also announce the date that the adequacy finding becomes effective. The 2009 

NOx MVEB will be available for use on the effective date. If you have any questions, please 

feel free to call Amanetta Somerville of the EPA Region 4 staff at (404) 562-9025 or me at (404) 

562-8570. 

Sincerely, 

Kenneth R. Lapierre 

Acting Director 

Air, Pesticides, and Toxics 

Management Division