Purpose
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality (DAQ), hereby gives notice regarding its draft of the Regional Haze 5-Year Periodic Review Progress Report for the Second Planning Period. This draft progress report was prepared in accordance with the Federal Regional Haze Rule provisions specified in 40 CFR 51.308(g) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) guidance for implementing the rule to comply with Section 169 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
The Regional Haze Rule requires each state to periodically submit a progress report to the U.S. EPA analyzing progress toward the reasonable progress goal for each Class I Federal area located within the State and for each Class I Federal area located outside the State that may be affected by emissions from within the State. The DAQ prepared this draft 5-year progress report for 2019 through 2022 (covering the first part of the second regional haze planning period from 2019 to 2028). This draft progress report addresses the requirements of 40 CFR 51.308(g)(1) through (6) and 40 CFR 51.308(h) for North Carolina’s five Class I Federal areas (see 40 CFR 81.422): the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area, Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, Shining Rock Wilderness Area, and Swanquarter Wilderness Area. The GSMNP and Joyce Kilmer – Slickrock Wilderness Area are located in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
The DAQ provided the Federal Land Managers (FLMs) the opportunity for consultation and review of this draft progress report as required by 40 CFR 51.308(i)(2). Appendix A of this progress report provides comments from the National Park Service and the DAQ’s responses to the comments. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service did not provide any comments.
Comment Procedures
Any person wishing to comment may submit a written statement for inclusion in the record of proceedings regarding the draft of the Regional Haze 5-Year Periodic Review Progress Report for the Second Planning Period. Written comments should be submitted electronically or postmarked no later than Monday, August 18. (Please type “NC RH Progress Report” in the subject line)
Comments can be mailed to:
Tammy Manning
NC Division of Air Quality
1641 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1641
daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov
(Please type " NC RH Progress Report” in the subject line)
A copy of the draft of the Regional Haze 5-Year Periodic Review Progress Report for the Second Planning Period may be downloaded from the DAQ website. Alternatively, the progress report may be reviewed at the following DAQ office locations:
Raleigh Central Office, Planning Section: (919) 707-8403
Asheville Regional Office: (828) 296-4500
Washington Regional Office: (252) 948-3836