# Appendix Q Public Notice Report, Comments Received and ResponsesPublic Notice Report i The Hickory And Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, NC PM2.5 Appendix Q North Carolina Attainment Demonstration August 21, 2009 (This page intentionally left blank)Public Notice Report ii The Hickory And Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, NC PM2.5 Appendix Q North Carolina Attainment Demonstration August 21, 2009 

### Table of Contents

Public Notice Report .......................................................................................................... ..............1

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Public Comments .............................................................3

NC Division of Air Quality Re sponse to Public Comments............................................................7

Public Notice ................................................................................................................. .................11

Hickory Daily Record Public Notice Affidavit .............................................................................13

Greensboro News and Record Public Notice Affidavit .................................................................15

Winston-Salem Journal Public Notice Affidavit ...........................................................................17Public Notice Report iii The Hickory And Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, NC PM2.5 Appendix Q North Carolina Attainment Demonstration August 21, 2009 (This page intentionally left blank)Public Notice Report 1 The Hickory And Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, NC PM2.5 Appendix Q North Carolina Attainment Demonstration August 21, 2009 

### Public Notice Report For The North Carolina Fine Particulat e Matter Attainment Demonstration for the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Fine Particulate Matt er Nonattainment Areas (Catawba, Davidson, and Guilford Counties)

On April 1, 2009, a draft version of The North Ca rolina Fine Particulat e Matter Attainment Demonstration for the Hickory and Greensboro/ Winston-Salem/High Point Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Areas for the 1997 PM 2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) was submitted to the U. S. Environmenta l Protection Agency (USEPA). A request for public hearing, in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102, and the public comment period were noticed on the North Carolina Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) web site on April 1, 2009 and in the local newspapers on April 2, 2009. The public comment period was open from April 1, 2009, through May 11, 2009, with a tentative hearing scheduled for May 7, 2009. No requests for public hearing were received and the hearing wa s cancelled. A hearing cancellation notice was posted on the NCDAQ web site on May 4, 2009. Th e public comment period elicited comments from only the USEPA. These comments and our response are included la ter in this Appendix.

Background

The USEPA promulgated a new PM 2.5 NAAQS (40 CFR 50.7 ) in 1997, se tting the standard at a 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ( μ g/m3) annual average and at a 65 μ g/m3 daily or 24-hour average. A violation of the annual PM 2.5 NAAQS occurs when the annual average PM 2.5 concentration averaged over a three consecutive year period is equal to or greater than 15.1 μ g/m3. A violation of the daily PM 2.5 NAAQS occurs when the annual 98th percentile of daily PM 2.5 concentration averaged over a three consecu tive year period is equal to or greater than 66 μ g/m3. The annual or daily PM 2.5 design value for a nonattainment area is the highest monitor’s design valu e in that area.

The USEPA designated areas as nonatta inment for the annual and daily PM 2.5 NAAQSs based upon air quality monitoring data measured dur ing 2001, 2002 and 2003. The effective date of nonattainment designations was April 5, 2005. In North Carolina, there were two areas designated as nonattainment for violating the annual PM 2.5 standard. These two areas include the Hickory PM 2.5 nonattainment area (Catawba County) and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point PM 2.5 nonattainment area (Davidson and Guilford Counties). All areas of North Carolina met the daily PM 2.5 standard.

Several control measures already in place or being implemented over the next few years will reduce stationary point, highway mobile, and non road mobile sources emissions. The expected Federal and State control measures were modeled for the attainment year of 2009.Public Notice Report 2 The Hickory And Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, NC PM2.5 Appendix Q North Carolina Attainment Demonstration August 21, 2009 The Federal control measures that were modele d included the Tier 2 vehicle standards; the heavy-duty gasoline and diesel high way vehicle standards; low sulf ur gasoline and diesel fuels, large nonroad diesel engines standards; the nonroad spark-ig nition engines and recreational engines standard; and the Cl ean Air Interstate Rule.

The State control measures that were modeled in cluded the Clean Air Bill, in which the vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program was expanded from 9 counties to 48; the NO x SIP Call Rule, the North Carolina Clean Air Inte rstate Rule and the Clean Smokestacks Act, which will significantly reduce SO 2 emissions from the large elec trical generation units with implementation beginning prior to the 2009 attainment year and we ll in advance of the Federal Clean Air Interstate Rule. The Clean Smokestack s Act further requires the coal-fired power plants to meet an annual SO 2 emissions cap without an option of emissions trading from outside of North Carolina.

Summary of Public Notice and Comment Period

Please reference page 3 of this Appendix for the full listing of the USEPA’s public comments received.

Please reference page 7 of this Appendix for the NCDAQ response letter addressing the USEPA’s public comments.

Conclusions

The NCDAQ firmly believes that it has prepared an adequate a ttainment demonstration package to address and resolve the nonattainment issues in the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/ High Point PM 2.5 nonattainment area and demonstrates that both of these areas will meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter by the April 5, 2010 attainment date. In a testament to the implemented c ontrol measures modeled in this attainment demonstration, PM 2.5 concentrations have already decrea sed significantly and all the monitoring sites in both nonattainment area s have attained the annual PM 2.5 NAAQS with the 2006-2008 monitoring data. Furthermore, the NCDAQ has adequately addressed the USEPA public comments received and made all a ppropriate modifications to the attainment demonstration. As a result, the NCDAQ will be moving forward w ith the final submittal to the USEPA of The North Carolina Fine Particulate Matter Atta inment Demonstration for the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Areas.