Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; North Carolina: Prevention of Significant Deterioration; Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule Revision

EPA is proposing to approve a draft revision to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (NC DENR) Division of Air Quality, to EPA on August 11, 2010, for parallel processing. The proposed SIP revision establishes new provisions specific to greenhouse gas (GHG) for North Carolina's New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. Specifically, the proposed SIP revision establishes appropriate emission thresholds for determining which new stationary sources and modification projects become subject to North Carolina's PSD permitting requirements for their GHG emissions. North Carolina's August 11, 2010, SIP revision is necessary because without it, on January 2, 2011, PSD requirements would apply at the 100 or 250 tons per year (tpy) levels provided under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), which would overwhelm North Carolina's permitting resources. EPA is proposing approval of North Carolina's August 11, 2010, SIP revision relating to PSD requirements for GHG-emitting sources because the Agency has made the preliminary determination that this SIP revision is in accordance with the CAA and EPA regulations regarding PSD permitting for GHGs.