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August 26, 2009

Final PM2.5 Attainment Demonstration State Implementation Plan (SIP) documentation

June 2009

2009 Annual Monitoring Network Plan for NC Air Quality (by pollutant or by MSA)

 

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Air Quality

The Triad and Ground Level Ozone

EPA's Ozone Standard- The Clean Air Act, last amended in 1990, requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone (and five other pollutants) that are harmful to public health and the environment. Areas that violate air quality standards for ozone are designated by EPA as nonattainment. The Triad, like other North Carolina urban areas, has often exceeded federal health standards for ozone and has been designated nonattainment.

What is Ozone - Ground-level ozone is the main ingredient of smog. It is known for causing and aggravating a variety of bad health effects. The two chemical emissions that combine, in the presence of sunlight, to create ozone are nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). On the east coast the primary sources that create ground level ozone are local emissions from vehicles and stationery sources.

1-Hour Ozone Standard

1-Hour Ozone Standard - EPA first began to regulate levels of ground-level ozone in 1979 by adopting the 0.12 parts-per-million (ppm), 1-hour ozone standard. The Triad attained this standard well before it was superseded by the stricter 8-hour standard.

8-Houre Ozone Standard

8-Hour Ozone Standard - Mounting scientific health studies indicated that a more stringent ozone standard was necessary to protect human health and welfare. As a result, in 1997 EPA announced a more stringent ozone standard of 0.08 parts per million measured over an 8-hour period, the 8-hour ozone standard. Due to litigation and other reasons, it did not become effective until June 2004. (Because ozone is measured out to three decimal places, the standard effectively became 0.084 ppm as a result of rounding.) Ozone data, collected at monitors, is evaluated over a three year period to determine compliance with the ozone standard.

Early Action Compacts (EAC's) Under the 8-Hour Standard - As the result of negotiation following threatened litigation by environmental groups, EPA agreed to allow local areas to organize Early Action Compacts.

• PURPOSE - Early Action Compacts (EACs) were voluntary agreements among local and state governments and EPA. The purpose was to provide local areas with flexibility to control local emissions from vehicles and stationery sources, the primary causes of ozone. Participating in an EAC offered local governments a means to achieve cleaner air faster than the federal Clean Air Act otherwise required. By reducing pollution ahead of schedule, these communities could bring sustainable health and environmental improvements to their residents sooner than would have been achieved without these agreements.
• ELIGIBILITY - To be eligible to form an EAC, an area had to have attained the older 1-hour ozone standard and not be attaining the 8-hour standard. In North Carolina the Charlotte area was not eligible because it had not yet attained the 1-hour standard. The Triad, Fayetteville, and Hickory areas were eligible and did formed EAC's. The Triangle area was also eligible but decided not to.
• INCENTIVE - EPA agreed to defer the effective date of nonattainment designation for EACs until April 15, 2008 contingent upon the area's meeting all terms and conditions of the compact. The consequences of nonattainment have both economic and potential transportation impacts. Nonattaining areas must live within an "ozone budget" and review emissions for all proposed new industry ("new source review'). The worst case scenario is withholding of federal transportation funds, as occurred in the Atlanta area.
• THE TRIAD EARLY ACTION COMPACT (EAC) - Triad area local governments did not receive final word of the EAC process until late fall 2002. But within six weeks, the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments and Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments organized 11 counties and 28 municipalities into the Triad Early Action Compact. There were 32 EACs in the country, and ours was one of the largest. More than a year later, EPA announced the official boundaries of the Triad's nonattainment area and only 8 counties were included (Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, and Rockingham). Boundaries were determined based upon readings from state air quality monitors, commuting patterns, and MSA boundaries.
  
  A Stakeholders Group of government and private sector leaders was formed to guide the work of the Triad EAC. Between 2003 and the December 2007 deadline, the Stakeholders Group developed and oversaw implementation of more than 30 comprehensive strategies that were adopted by every participating government. The strategies, both short- and long-term, included several enforceable state and federal requirements such as federal requirements for cleaner car, SUV and light truck engines; lower sulfur gasoline; and cleaner diesel highway vehicles. The primary State requirements were annual auto tailpipe inspections and maintenance in 43 counties and the Clean Smoke Stacks Act. This law required major reductions in emissions at coal fired power plants throughout the state including the Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County (a participant in the Triad EAC). Implementation of these emissions reducing systems made the biggest reduction in the Region's ozone level.

Most of the EAC strategies were regional and local measures that set a long-term direction for emissions reductions. They included:

Reducing the number of industrial coal fired boilers operating during summer ozone season,	Implementation of mobile meter reading (instead of pick-up trucks) by a major utility	Idling reduction requirements for many company fleets and all school buses
Retrofits of emissions systems on hundreds of older school buses	Development and expansion of a regional transportation authority that includes a regional bus system and park-and-ride lots throughout the region	Use of biodiesel in several municipal fleets and on a number of college campuses.  The NC Zoo manufactures its own biodiesel and uses it to power its vehicles
Installation of energy savings equipment and measures in public and private facilities.	New construction using LEED standards or other energy efficiency techniques.	Expansion of municipal bus services in Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem
Emphasis on greenways, sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly measures in all phases of community planning and capital programming.	Adoption of local ordinances incentivizing infill and more efficient land use.	Installation of 2 truck-stop electrification centers at truck stops along I-85/40 to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

 

Click here to view the December 2004 report of all Triad Ozone Reduction Strategies submitted to EPA as part of the State Implementation Plan (.pdf format)

Between 2003 and 2007 the Triad EAC submitted biannual reports to EPA documenting the Triad's progress on these strategies. The NC Division of Air Quality also submitted quality-assured monitoring data documenting the Region's progress.

TRIAD SUCCESS - The Triad EAC met the December 2007 air quality deadline. In the process, the region's work was noted by EPA in the Federal Register. On April 15, 2008 EPA officially designated the Triad EAC as well as those in Hickory and Fayetteville as having attained the 8-hour ozone standard. Click here to view the December 2007 final strategy report to EPA. Click here to view more information about the Triad EAC.

Federal Register /Vol. 73, No. 64 /Wednesday, April 2, 2008 /Rules and Regulations ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The New Ozone Standard

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 60 / Thursday, March 27, 2008 / Rules and Regulations

Even before EAC's were officially recognized as meeting the 1997 8-hour ozone standard, EPA promulgated a new standard. On March 27, 2008 EPA announced that the 8-hour standard would be lowered to 0 .075 parts per million to better protect the public's health. The new lower standard became effective in May 2008. This resulted in an increased number of "high ozone days" in the summer of 2008 and going forward. The greater number of air quality alerts reflects the tighter standard, not a decrease in air quality.

It should be noted that even with the new standard, the Triad and all EACs remain in attainment until nonattainment boundaries are announced under the new standard. EPA is not expected to designate new nonattainment boundaries until March 2010. See the NC Division of Air Quality submission to EPA on nonattainment boundary designation at http://www.ncair.org/planning/ozone/o3boundary.

EPA has made no announcement regarding authorization of Early Action Compacts under the new ozone standard. The Piedmont Triad COG has strongly advocated for renewal of EAC's, and the NC Division of Air Quality has played a leading role in outlining the benefits of EACs to EPA. EPA's failure to act by the first of 2009 probably means EACs will not be authorized under the revised 8-hour standard.

Fine Particles - PM 2.5
EPA has designated three North Carolina counties as nonattainment for its 1999 fine particles standard - Davidson, Guilford and Catawba. The air quality monitor in Guilford County does not show the county to be in violation, but EPA opted to cite Guilford because its traffic volume and sheer population numbers contribute significantly to Davidson's air pollution. EPA has the authority to cite the entire Triad or any portion of the region because of Davidson's violation. The two Triad counties join Catawba County on a list of 225 counties nationwide with unacceptable particle pollution levels.

The standard for PM2.5 is 15 micrograms per cubic meter per hour. Like ozone, it is averaged over a three-year period. Davidson County's fine particle pollution numbers have been going down, but not quickly enough to meet federal standards set in 1999. However, statewide provisions such as the Clean Smokestacks Act and heightened vehicle inspection standards will hopefully allow readings from Davidson County monitors to meet the federal standard before the deadline of 2010.

As a result of PM2.5 nonattainment, Guilford and Davidson counties are under new source review for new industry. The Division of Air Quality is developing a plan to show that they can meet federal standards by 2010.
If you have any questions on any of these programs or other environmental issues in the region, please contact:

Hanna Cockburn, Senior Planner, PTCOG
Phone: (336) 294-4950