Appendix Q 

Public Notice Report, 

Comments Received and Responses
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Table of Contents 

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

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

NC Division of Air Quality Response 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 ...........................................................................17 
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Public Notice Report 1 

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Public Notice Report 

For 

The North Carolina Fine Particulate Matter Attainment Demonstration 

for the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point 

Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Areas 

(Catawba, Davidson, and Guilford Counties) 

On April 1, 2009, a draft version of The North Carolina Fine Particulate Matter Attainment 

Demonstration for the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Fine Particulate 

Matter Nonattainment Areas for the 1997 PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS) was submitted to the U. S. Environmental 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 was cancelled. A hearing cancellation notice was 

posted on the NCDAQ web site on May 4, 2009. The public comment period elicited comments 

from only the USEPA. These comments and our response are included later in this Appendix. 

Background

The USEPA promulgated a new PM2.5 NAAQS (40 CFR 50.7 ) in 1997, setting the standard at a 

15.0 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) annual average and at a 65 μg/m3 daily or 24-hour 

average. A violation of the annual PM2.5 NAAQS occurs when the annual average PM2.5

concentration averaged over a three consecutive year period is equal to or greater than 

15.1 μg/m3. A violation of the daily PM2.5 NAAQS occurs when the annual 98th percentile of 

daily PM2.5 concentration averaged over a three consecutive year period is equal to or greater 

than 66 μg/m3. The annual or daily PM2.5 design value for a nonattainment area is the highest 

monitor’s design value in that area. 

The USEPA designated areas as nonattainment for the annual and daily PM2.5 NAAQSs based 

upon air quality monitoring data measured during 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 PM2.5 standard. These two areas include the 

Hickory PM2.5 nonattainment area (Catawba County) and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High 

Point PM2.5 nonattainment area (Davidson and Guilford Counties). All areas of North Carolina 

met the daily PM2.5 standard. 

Several control measures already in place or being implemented over the next few years will 

reduce stationary point, highway mobile, and nonroad mobile sources emissions. The expected 

Federal and State control measures were modeled for the attainment year of 2009. 
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The Federal control measures that were modeled included the Tier 2 vehicle standards; the 

heavy-duty gasoline and diesel highway vehicle standards; low sulfur gasoline and diesel fuels, 

large nonroad diesel engines standards; the nonroad spark-ignition engines and recreational 

engines standard; and the Clean Air Interstate Rule. 

The State control measures that were modeled included the Clean Air Bill, in which the vehicle 

emissions inspection and maintenance program was expanded from 9 counties to 48; the NOx

SIP Call Rule, the North Carolina Clean Air Interstate Rule and the Clean Smokestacks Act, 

which will significantly reduce SO2 emissions from the large electrical generation units with 

implementation beginning prior to the 2009 attainment year and well in advance of the Federal 

Clean Air Interstate Rule. The Clean Smokestacks Act further requires the coal-fired power 

plants to meet an annual SO2 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 attainment demonstration package 

to address and resolve the nonattainment issues in the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/ 

High Point PM2.5 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 control measures modeled in this attainment 

demonstration, PM2.5 concentrations have already decreased significantly and all the monitoring 

sites in both nonattainment areas have attained the annual PM2.5 NAAQS with the 2006-2008 

monitoring data. Furthermore, the NCDAQ has adequately addressed the USEPA public 

comments received and made all appropriate modifications to the attainment demonstration. As 

a result, the NCDAQ will be moving forward with the final submittal to the USEPA of The 

North Carolina Fine Particulate Matter Attainment Demonstration for the Hickory and 

Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Areas. 
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