Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; South Carolina 110(a)(1) and (2) Infrastructure Requirements for the 1997 and 2006 Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards

EPA is taking final action to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submissions, submitted by the State of South Carolina, through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC), as demonstrating that the State meets the SIP requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 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. South Carolina certified that the South Carolina SIP contains provisions that ensure the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are implemented, enforced, and maintained in South Carolina (hereafter referred to as ``infrastructure submission''). South Carolina's infrastructure submissions, provided to EPA on March 14, 2008, and September 18, 2009, certification submissions (as clarified in a letter on November 9, 2009), and the State's April 3, 2012, SIP revision address all the required infrastructure elements for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.

Agency Contact: Sean Lakeman, Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404) 562-9043. Mr. Lakeman can be reached via electronic mail at lakeman.sean@epa.gov.