# Appendix C

Public Notice Rep ort, Comme nts Received and Responses(This page intentionally left blank)Public Notice Report, Comments Received and Responses 1

Charlotte

- Gastonia

- Salisbury, NC 2008 8

- Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area Appendix C Redesignation Demonstration and Maintenance Plan April 1 6 , 2015 

### Public Notice Report
For the

Redesignation Demonstration and Maintenance Plan for the Charlotte

- Gastonia

Salisbury , North Carolina 2008 8

- Hour Ozone Marginal Nonattainment Area, and

Clean Air Act Section 110(l) Non

- Interference Demonstration to Support the Gasoline Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) Standard Relaxation in Gaston and

Mecklenburg Counties

Introduction

On Marc h 9 , 201 5 , a pre

- hearing version of the “ Redesignation Demonstration and Maintenance
Plan for Charlotte

- Gastonia

- Salisbury, North Carolina 2008 8

- Hour Ozone Marginal Nonattainment Area ” and the “Clean Air Act Section 110(l) Non

- Interference Demonstration to Support the Gasoline Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) Standard Relaxation in Gaston and Mecklenburg Counties ” were released for public comment. A request for public hearing, in
accordance with 40 CFR 51.102, and the public comment period were published on the North
Caro lina Division of Air Quality ( DAQ) website, as well as to email distribution lists managed by the DAQ . The public comment period was open from March 9, 2015 through April 10, 2015

. No requests for a public hearing were received. The public co mment peri od elicited comments
from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers (NCPCM)

.



### Background

The area surrounding Charlotte

- Gastonia

- Salisbury, North Carolina, called the Charlo tte nonattainment area, was designated as marginal nonattainment for the 2008 8

- hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard ( NAAQS ) on May 21, 2012 (77 Federal Register (FR) 30088). The Charlotte nonattainment area includes the entire county of Meckl enburg and parts of Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Rowan and Union counties in North Carolina, and the portion of York County, South Carolina that is adjacent to the Charlotte nonattainment area for
the 2008 8

- hour ozone NAAQS. The nonattainment desi gnation was an action taken by the EPA 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 a NAAQS. T he EPA took designation action in 2012 based on 2 009

- 2011 design values. At that time, the design value for
the Charlotte area was 0.079 parts per million ( ppm ) ; which exceeded the 8

- hour ozone standard of 0.075 ppm

.

There are currently six ozone monitors located throughout the Charlotte nonattainment area and one monitor located in York County, South Carolina, just outside of the nonattainment area. The latest design value for the nonattainment area is 0.073 ppm based on the data from 2012

- 2014,
and is therefore in attainment of the 2008 8

- hour ozone NAAQS, and the area is eligible to be considered for redesignation to attainment.Public Notice Report, Comments Received and Responses 2

Charlotte

- Gastonia

- Salisbury, NC 2008 8

- Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area Appendix C Redesignation Demonstration and Maintenance Plan April 1 6 , 2015 The State of North Carolina has implemented permanent and enforceable reductions in ozone precursor emissions in the Charlotte area. In addition, Mecklenburg County Air Q uality (MCAQ) has implemented actions to reduce ozone precursor emissions. This combination of state, federal, and local actions has resulted in cleaner air in the Charlotte nonattainment area, and the anticipated future benefits from these programs are e xpected to result in continued
maintenance of the 2008 8

- hour ozone NAAQS in this region. State actions include the Clean Smokestacks Act; the on

- board diagnostic vehicle inspection and maintenance program that began on July 1, 2002; and voluntary programs to reduce emissions from diesel engines.

Several federal actions have resulted in lower emissions throughout the eastern portion of the country. For on

- road and nonroad vehi cles, federal actions include the Tier 2 engine standards for light

- and medium

- duty vehicles, heavy

- duty engine standards, the low

- sulfur gasoline and diesel requirements, and off

- road engine standards. For stationary sources, federal actions
include the Mercury and Air Toxics rule for electricity generating units (EGUs) and the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and reciprocating internal combustion engines. In addition, there a re several federal actions that will be implemented starting in 2015. These actions will provide for additional nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions reductions in and near the Charlotte nonattainment area. For EGUs, the future federal actions include complianc e with the Cross State Air Pollution Rule and the Tennessee Valley Authority consent decree. For on

- road vehicles, the future federal actions include compliance with the Tier 3 vehicle emissions and fuel standards and corporate average fuel economy standa rds for on

- road vehicles.

North Ca rolina is requesting that the EPA redesignate the Charlotte nonattainment area to attainment. The monitoring data clearly shows that the region has attained the 2008 8

- hour ozone standard, and the maintenance demonstrati on shows that the future emission inventories are expected to be lower than the base year inventory through the implementation of the various
control measures listed above.

In addition, the DAQ has included a separate request for the EPA to consider relax ation of the current 7.8 psi RVP requirement for Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties subject to the summertime (June 1 through September 15) gasoline volatility standard contained in 40 CFR 80.27(a)(2). Approval of this request will enable 9.0 psi gasoline to be distributed in the entire Charlotte maintenance area throughout the summer. The current requirement of 7.8 psi RVP standard was put in place by the EPA to control emissions of volatile organic compounds.
Current science tells us that the most effecti ve method to control ozone formation in the Southeast is through reductions in NOx emissions. The current RVP standard results in higher fuel cost that adversely affects businesses and consumers, while providing limited environmental
benefits in this area

.

The redesignatio n request and maintenance plan presents the results of an in

- depth DAQ analysis , which indicates that relaxation of the RVP standard in the Charlotte maintenance area
would not interfere with the attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS. A mbient a ir quality data for the most recent three year period (2012

- 2014) demonstrate that the Charlotte maintenance
area has continued to maintain the 1997 8

- Hour o zone standard and has now measuredPublic Notice Report, Comments Received and Responses 3

Charlotte

- Gastonia

- Salisbury, NC 2008 8

- Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area Appendix C Redesignation Demonstration and Maintenance Plan April 1 6 , 2015 attainment of the 2008 8

- hour ozone standard. The ar ea also continues to meet the NAAQS for all other criteria air pollutants.



### Summary of Public Comment Period

The public notice comment period was open from March 9, 2015 through April 10, 2015

. There were no requests for a public hearing. Co mments were r eceived from the EPA and the NCPCM

, which are attached following this report

.

The following is a su mmary of the pertinent comments raised during the public comment period, along with the DAQ’s response

.

EPA comment: We have completed our review of t he prehearing submittal and offer no
comments at this time.

DAQ response: The DAQ acknowledges this comment. No revisions are required.

NCPCM comment: The NCPCM supports the DAQ ’s request to the EPA to relax the
summertime RVP standard f rom 7.8 psi to 9.0 psi in Gaston and Mecklenburg Counties.

DAQ response: The DAQ acknowledges this comment . No revisions are required.



### Attachments to Public Notice Report

1) Written comments from R. Scott Davis, Chief of the Air Planning and Implementation Branch, EPA , dated April 7 , 201 5

.

2) Written comments received from Gary F. Harris on behalf of the North Carolina Petroleum
and Convenience Marketers

, dated March 25 , 201 5

.

3) Public Notice Announcement by the North Carolina Department of Environment and
Natu ral Resources.