Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; North Carolina: Redesignation of the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Area to Attainment

EPA is taking final action to approve a request submitted on December 18, 2009, and supplemented on December 22, 2010, from the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), Division of Air Quality (DAQ), to redesignate the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir fine particulate matter (PM<INF>2.5</INF>) nonattainment area (hereafter the "Hickory Area" or "Area") to attainment for the 1997 Annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The Hickory Area is comprised of Catawba County in its entirety. EPA's approval of the redesignation request is based on the determination that the State of North Carolina has met the criteria for redesignation to attainment set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), including the determination that the Hickory Area has attained the 1997 Annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS by its applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010. Additionally, EPA is approving a revision to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) to include the 1997 Annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> maintenance plan for the Hickory Area that contains the new motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) for the years 2011 and 2021 for Catawba County and the mobile insignificance determination for direct PM<INF>2.5</INF> for the Hickory Area. This action also approves the emissions inventory submitted with the maintenance plan. Further, EPA is correcting a typographical error for the citation associated with a previous adequacy determination the Agency made for the NO<INF>X</INF> MVEBs for Catawba County and the mobile source insignificance determination for direct PM<INF>2.5</INF> for the Hickory Area.