UNITED STA TE S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 4

The Honorabl e Pat McCrory Office ofthe G ove rnor 20301 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-030 I Dear Governor McCrory: ATLANTA FEDERAL CE N TER 61 FORS YTH STREET ATLANTA, GEO RGIA 30303-8960 

# FEB 1 6 2016

Thank you for yo ur updated recom m e ndation s , s ubmitted on beh a lf of yo u by Don ald R. van der Vaart, Secretary of th e No rth Carolina Department of E nvironmental Quality (NC DEQ ) , dated September I8 , 2 015 , on air quality designations for the State of North Carolina for th e 2010 re v i sio n to the primary National Ambi
. ent Air Quality S tandard (NAAQS) for s ulfur dioxid e (S 0 2)
. Reducin g leve ls of S0 2 pollution is an important part of the U. S. Environmental Protec ti o n Agency's commitment to a cl ean , healthy e nvironment. Ex po s ure to S02 can cause a ran ge of adver se health effects. including narrow in g of the airways w hich can cause difficulty breathing and incr eased a s thma symptom s. Thi s le tte r is to no ti fy you of th e EPA ' s prelimin ary intention s r egardi ng yo ur recommended de signations. On June 3, 20 10 , the EPA stre ngth ened th e healt h-ba sed or " primar y" standard for S 0 2 by estab li s hin g a s tandard for !-hour ave ra ge S0 2 concentrat ion s at a level of 75 parts per billion
. Within 1 year after a new or re v ise d standard is establ i shed , the Clean Ai r Act requires the Governor of each state to sub mit to the EP A a li st o f all area s in the State , with recommendations for w het her e ac h area meets the s tandard. Through an interacti ve process , th e E PA considers the reco mmendati ons a nd then prom ul gates des ig nation s for a ll areas acro ss th e country. On July 25 , 2013, the EPA designated 29 areas in I6 s tates as nonattainment , but did not at that time de s ig nate othe r areas. Pur s uant to a March 2 , 2015 , court
ordered schedule , 1 the EPA mu s t complete the re maining S0 2 de sig nations by three s pec ific deadline s : Jul y 2 , 2016 , D ece mber 31 , 20 17 , and Decemb er 3 1 , 202 0. T his current round of desi g nat ions , to be compl eted by Jul y 2 , 20 16 , addresses two g r oups of areas: (I) areas that have n ew ly monitored violations of th e 20 I 0 S0 2 NAAQS based on the mo s t r ece nt tlu·e e cal e ndar years of certified monitored ambient ai r quality dat a, a nd (2) areas that contain any stationary so urce that had not been announced as of March 2 , 20 15 , for retire me nt and that acco rdin g to th e EPA 's Ai r Markets D atabase emitted in 20 12 either: ( i) more than 16 , 000 to n s of S0 2 or ( ii ) more than 2 , 600 t o n s ofS02 with an annual average e mission rate of at least 0.45 pounds ofS0 2/mmBTU.

1 

### Sierra Clu b v. McCa rth y, No. 3 -1 3-cv-3953 (S I) (N .D. Cal. Mar. 2, 2015)
.
In ternet Address (URL) • http://www.epa

. gov Recyled/Recyclab l e • Pr i nted with Vegetable O il Based Inks on Recyc l ed Pape r (M o nimum 30 % Po st c on s umer)After carefully con s iderin g North Carol in a ' s reco mme ndation s and other available tec hni cal in format i o n , the EPA intends to designate as un class ifi ab le / attainmen t the following areas, including the followi ng counties o r portions of counties: Inte nd ed Unclass ifi ab le / Attainment Area Brunswick Co unty , N C* I ntended U ncla ss ifiabl e / A ttainme nt Area Counties Bruns w ick County , NC (p ) (p) indi cat es p o rti o n of co unty The asterisk(*) indicate s the b o undary for thi s intended uncla ss ifiabl e/ atta inme nt area represe nt s a modificati o n to th e bound ary that yo u hav e re com mend ed
. T he enclosed Technical Support Document provides a detailed anal ysis that s upports our inte nded desi g nat io n decisions. If yo ur State has additiona l information that the EPA s hould consider prior to finalizing these d es ig nati o n s , ple ase submit it to u s by Apri l 19 , 20 16
. We al so will be publi s hing a notic e in th e Fede ra l R egis ter announcing a 30-day period for the public to provide input on the EPA's intended des ignation deci s ions. We wi ll promul ga te the designation for this area by July 2, 20 16
. We w ill designate all other previously undesignated area s in the State on a sc hedul e con s i s tent w i th th e pre sc ribed t imin g of the court order, i.e. , by D ece mber 3 1 , 2017 , o r December 31,2020
. We look forward to a cont in ued dialogue w ith yo u and yo ur staff as we wo rk t ogether to complete the area designations and implement the 20 I 0 primary S0 2 standa rd
. For addi tion al inform ation reg ard in g designations under the S0 2 standa rd , please vis it o ur we b si te at www. e pa.gov /s-o2designations . Sho uld you have any que stions , please do not he s itat e t o call me , or have your staff contact Beverly H. Bani ster, Dir ecto r, Air, Pe s ticid es and Toxics Management Divi s ion at (404) 562-9070 or banister
. beverly @ e pa.e: ov.

Enclosure

cc: Donald R
. van der Yaart Secretary, NC DE Q She il a

**olman** Director , No rth Ca rolin a Di vision of Air Qu al ity Sincerely ,



# ~y H eather McTee r Toney


# ~ Reg ional A dmini strator

Janet G. McCabe , Acting Assistant Adm ini strato r f o r Air and Radiation S tephe n D. P age , Dir ec to r, Office of A ir Quality Planning a nd Standards