Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Master Management Plan - 2014

TOWN OF MORRISVILLE

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

6-8