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assessing and protecting drinking water sources, as well as ensuring the appropriate
treatment of water by qualified operators. The USEPA is also to ensure the integrity of water
delivery systems and inform the public of the quality of their drinking water supply.
6.1.7
Clean Air Act
The CAA (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is intended to “protect and enhance the quality of the
Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive
capacity of its population.” Section 118 of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7418) requires that each
federal agency with jurisdiction over any property or facility engaged in any activity that
might result in the discharge of air pollutants comply with “all Federal, state, interstate, and
local requirements” with regard to the control and abatement of air pollution.
On April 15, 2004, the USEPA designated ozone nonattainment areas. These nonattainment
areas have either violated the national 8-hour ozone standard or have contributed to its
violation. The USEPA categorized these nonattainment areas into five groups, ranging from
basic to severe, with basic having the least stringent requirements and severe having the
most stringent requirements. As of June 2005, Wake County, which is identified as a
maintenance area, is no longer subject to the 1-hour standard (USEPA, 2013).
As of December 26, 2007, USEPA approved the request of NCDENR to redesignate the
Triangle area 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 8-hour NAAQS ozone
standard (FR 72948). In 2008, the 8-hour ozone NAAQS was revised to 0.075 parts per
million (ppm). The USEPA is moving forward with the implementation of the 2008 ozone
standard and requested that states wishing to revise their boundary recommendations
submit the revisions by October 28, 2011. North Carolina made its revised boundary
recommendations based on the 2009-2011 data. These data did not show nonattainment of
the ozone standard for the Triangle area. On December 8, 2011, the USEPA sent North
Carolina its response, stating that the agency intends to support North Carolina's
recommended area designations and boundaries for all areas (NCDENR, 2013a).
The North Carolina Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) has implemented an aggressive Air
Awareness Education Program that encompasses daily reports on the ozone forecasts by
meteorologists reported using media, such as the internet, television, newspapers, and radio.
The public has become very informed of ozone issues and steps they can take to reduce ozone
emissions, which include combining errands into one trip, maintaining automobiles and lawn
equipment, and using lawn equipment in the evening.
The Clean Smokestacks Act of 2002 requires coal-fired power plants to achieve a 77-percent
reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 2009. NOx is the main cause of ozone, one
of North Carolina's biggest air quality problems, and it contributes to haze and acid rain.
Under the act, utility companies must achieve these goals through actual reductions –and
not by buying or trading emissions credits from utilities in other states, as allowed under
federal regulations. The utilities also cannot sell credits for their emissions reductions
(NCDENR, 2009).
North Carolina had its lowest ozone levels on record in 2013 since air monitoring began in the
early 1970s. The declining ozone levels were generally concurrent with lower emissions from
the State's power plants. A recent report by NCDAQ shows that the State's coal-fired power
plants have cut their NOx emissions, a primary industrial contributor to ozone pollution, by