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Comments Received and Responses 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

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

Comment Letter: 12/7/2009, Richard A. Schutt, Chief of Air Planning Branch, 

USEPA Region 4 .................................................................................................................3 

Letter: 12/18/2009, B. Keith Overcash, Response to USEPA Region 4 comment letter, 

dated 12/7/2009 ....................................................................................................................7 

The Greensboro News and Record Affidavit .................................................................................11 

The Hickory Daily Record Affidavit .............................................................................................12 

The Winston-Salem Journal Affidavit ...........................................................................................13 
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Public Notice Report 

For 

The North Carolina Redesignation and Maintenance Plan 

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

Annual PM2.5 Nonattainment Area 

On October 30, 2009, a draft version of the North Carolina redesignation and maintenance plan 

for the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point (referred to as the Triad area), 

annual PM2.5 nonattainment areas 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 in the local newspapers on Friday, October 30, 2009. The public 

comment period was open from October 30, 2009, through December 7, 2009, with a tentative 

hearing scheduled for Monday, December 7, 2009. No request for public hearing was received 

and the hearing was cancelled. A hearing cancellation notice was posted on the North Carolina 

Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) website on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. The public 

comment period elicited comments from the USEPA. 

Background

The Hickory and Triad areas North Carolina, located in Catawba, Davidson, and Guilford 

counties, was designated nonattainment for the annual PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality 

Standard (NAAQS) on January 5, 2005 (70 Federal Register 944) and became effective on April 

1, 2005. The nonattainment designation was an action taken by the USEPA under Section 

107(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The CAA requires that some area be designated as 

nonattainment if a monitor is found to be in violation of the NAAQS. The USEPA took 

designation action in 2005 based on the ambient data from 2001-2003. At that time, the design 

values for the Hickory and Triad nonattainment areas were 15.6 μg/m3

 and 15.9 μg/m3, 

respectively. 

All violating monitors were attaining the annual PM2.5 standard with the inclusion of the 2008 

ambient data. The 2006-2008 design values for the Hickory and Triad nonattainment areas are 

14.2 μg/m3

 and 14.5 μg/m3, respectively. Both areas continue to attain the daily PM2.5 standard. 

Therefore, the Hickory and Triad PM2.5 nonattainment areas are in attainment of the annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS and eligible to be considered for redesignation to attainment. 

Summary of Public Notice and Comment Period

The public comment period was open from October 30, 2009 through December 7, 2009. The 

only comments received were from the USEPA, which are attached at the end of this Appendix. 

For the most part the comments on the PM2.5 redesignation and maintenance plan were minor 

and have been addressed in the final submittal. One comment from the USEPA was that North 

Carolina needed to provide additional information which addresses the impact of transport from 
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adjacent states during the maintenance period in order to approve the maintenance plan due to 

the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) remand. The NCDAQ believes it has adequately addressed 

the concern in its transmittal letter and in the response to comments letter. The NCDAQ 

response to comments can be found at the end of this Appendix. 

Conclusions

The NCDAQ believes it has adequately addressed the USEPA’s comments. The NCDAQ will 

be moving forward with the final submittal to the USEPA of the North Carolina redesignation 

demonstration and maintenance plan for the Hickory and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point 

annual PM2.5 nonattainment areas. 
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