Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; State of North Carolina

Résumé

On November 13, 1992, the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources (NCDEHNR), submitted a maintenance plan and a request to redesignate the Raleigh/Durham area (classified as a moderate nonattainment area) from nonattainment to attainment for ozone (O 3). The O 3 nonattainment area includes the following counties: Durham, Wake, and the Dutchville Township portion of Granville. Under the Clean Air Act, designations can be changed if sufficient data are available to warrant such changes. In this action, EPA is approving the State of North Carolina's submittal because it meets the maintenance plan and redesignation requirements. The approved maintenance plan will become a federally enforceable part of the SIP for the Raleigh/Durham area. On January 15, 1993, in a letter from Patrick Tobin to Governor James Hunt, the EPA notified the State of North Carolina that the EPA had made a finding of failure to submit required programs for the nonattainment area. EPA's redesignation of the Raleigh/Durham area to attainment abrogates those requirements for this area. Therefore, the sanctions and federal implementation plan clock