North Carolina Signs Air Quality Agreement for Pristine Areas
RALEIGH -- North Carolina today signed an agreement aimed at ensuring that new industrial emissions do not degrade air quality in the Great Smoky Mountains and other pristine natural areas.
The agreement, or memorandum of understanding (MOU), establishes formal procedures for reviewing permit applications for new or expanded utilities and other large industries. The procedures only apply to North Carolina facilities whose air emissions could be large enough to affect air quality in national parks and wilderness areas -- generally less than a half-dozen permits each year.
“This agreement is an important step toward protecting air quality and visibility in North Carolina’s most pristine natural areas, from the Great Smoky Mountains to the coast,” said Wayne McDevitt, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, who signed the document on behalf of Governor Jim Hunt. “It also illustrates North Carolina’s on-going commitment to improving air quality problems in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.”
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) will take effect March 1, 1999. The agreement also includes a sunset clause, under which the MOU will expire if not signed by at least one other southeastern state by December 31, 2000.
Prior to the MOU’s effective date, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will work with the federal land managers to determine when additional analyses will be required in the permitting process.
Under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, all national parks and wilderness areas exceeding 5,000 acres were designated as Class I Areas. The act states that federal land managers in the U.S. Department of Interior “have an affirmative responsibility to protect the air quality” in these Class I Areas. In North Carolina, Class I Areas include the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, several wilderness areas in Western North Carolina, and the Swan Quarter National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde County. The agreement applies only to large new and expanding facilities which are expected to emit more than 250 tons of pollutants each year and are located near the Class I Areas.
Despite the requirements in the Clean Air Act, the law does not specify how federal land managers should review air permit applications. As a result, permit review procedures have been set on a case-by-case basis -- leading to uncertainties and delays in the permitting process. Previously, there were no formalized procedures for informing federal land managers about proposed facilities. The MOU is designed to address those issues.
As part of North Carolina’s effort to join the agreement, state environmental officials have been working with federal land managers to develop procedures for reviewing air quality permits for industries whose emissions could affect Class I Areas in North Carolina and nearby states. In addition, state air quality officials sought public input from across the state, including public meetings held in Asheville and Raleigh.
Under the new procedures, large new industries located near Class I Areas would be required to meet MOU guidelines, which may include conducting computer modeling, to determine whether their emissions would affect air quality in national parks and wilderness areas. In return, industries would benefit from having a more consistent permit review process and predetermined deadlines for federal reviews. Federal land managers would benefit from receiving notifications about new facilities early in the permit application process but would have 60 days to respond, according to the new guidelines. Previously, there had been no deadline.
The procedures do not give federal land managers the authority to veto permit applications. The state maintains full permitting authority, but federal officials can request stricter controls on facilities whose emissions could degrade air quality in Class I Areas.
The agreement signed by McDevitt is similar to a 1997 memorandum of understanding between the state of Tennessee and federal land managers. That agreement was set to expire on December 31 unless signed by at least one other Southeastern state. The North Carolina agreement includes several amendments to the Tennessee MOU, to clarify the document and respond to comments raised during the public review. The amendments include: the effective date of March 1, 1999; the sunset date of December 31, 2000;
the notification of federal officials about new facilities at the pre-application meeting; and the 60-day period for federal officials to comment on pending permits.
In addition to the memorandum of understanding, North Carolina has a number of other efforts under way to improve air quality, including:
The Division of Air Quality is working aggressively to prepare a comprehensive plan for complying with the new, stricter federal ozone standard.
Governor Jim Hunt will be hosting the Governor’s Summit on Mountain Air Quality on April 6-7, 1999, in Asheville. The multi-state conference is aimed at building regional cooperation and support for solutions to ozone pollution, haze, acid rain and other air quality problems in the mountain region.
The Division of Air Quality has begun issuing ozone forecasts in the state’s major metropolitan areas as part of its Air Awareness Program, a voluntary effort to increase public awareness about air pollution, its causes, and ways to prevent it.
North Carolina is a leading participant in the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative (SAMI), which Governor Hunt helped to create. Bill Holman, assistant secretary for environmental protection in the DENR, is the current chairman of the organization of governments, industries, researchers, environmentalists and others interested in improving air quality in the Appalachians.
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Date Released: 12/22/98
Contact: Tom Mather (919) 715-7408
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