Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; North Carolina; 110(a)(1) and (2) Infrastructure Requirements for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards

EPA is taking final action to approve in part and conditionally approve in part, the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission, submitted by the State of North Carolina, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR), Division of Air Quality (DAQ), as demonstrating that the State meets the state implementation plan (SIP) requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Section 110(a) of the CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated by the EPA, which is commonly referred to as an "infrastructure" SIP. North Carolina certified that the North Carolina SIP contains provisions that ensure the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in North Carolina (hereafter referred to as "infrastructure submission"). With the exception of sub-element 110(a)(2)(E)(ii), North Carolina's infrastructure submission, provided to EPA on December 12, 2007, and clarified in a subsequent submission submitted on June 20, 2008, addresses all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.