Background

On March 15, 1991, the EPA published a notice announcing that the Pinehurst area had been designated a PM₁₀ NAA upon the November 15, 1990 enactment of the 1990 CAA Amendments.

On November 6, 1991, the Pinehurst PM₁₀ NAA, which included the City of Pinehurst, was classified as moderate under sections 107(d)(4)(B) and 188(a) of the CAA (56 FR 56694 (PDF)(368 pp, 77 MB, About PDF)), and it had an attainment date of no later than December 31, 1994.

On December 21, 1993, the EPA designated the Pinehurst PM₁₀ Expansion NAA, a contiguous area to the south of the City of Pinehurst and the existing Pinehurst PM₁₀ NAA. This action became effective January 20, 1994 (58 FR 67334 (PDF)(340 pp, 86 MB)). The Pinehurst Expansion area had an attainment date no later than December 31, 2000.

On September 29, 2017, the IDEQ submitted the Pinehurst PM₁₀ LMP to EPA for approval and has requested that the EPA redesignate the Pinehurst NAA to attainment for the PM₁₀ NAAQS. This request and plan apply to both the City of Pinehurst and the Pinehurst PM₁₀ Expansion area.

On September 11, 2018, the EPA published its approval of the limited maintenance plan submitted by the IDEQ and redesignated the entire area to attainment for the 24-hour PM₁₀ standard (Proposal: 83 FR 21976 (PDF)(8 pp, 281 K); Final Rule: 83 FR 45830 (PDF)(6 pp, 292 K)).

Summary of Control Measures

Both the attainment plan and the maintenance plan rely primarily on control strategies for residential wood smoke including a woodstove changeout program, home weatherization, voluntary wood smoke curtailment, and outreach/education.

EPA Effective Dates

October 11, 2018