Carolinas Regulatory Updates

The 2025 Spring Carolinas Air Pollution Control Association (CAPCA) technical workshop and forum, hosted in Asheville, NC, kicked off with two workshops, one focused on emissions factors and tools for calculating emissions, and the other focused on the intersection of air quality and safety. Attendees of the main conference program learned about capital project implementation from start to finish (control device selection, permitting, commissioning, and compliance), the latest air regulatory updates, challenges associated with Hurricane Helene recovery, sustainability hot topics, and emerging issues related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Regulatory and program highlights from the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) and the North Carolina Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) are summarized below along with a few updates since the conference.

South Carolina Updates

• SCDES submitted a designation recommendation letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) on January 21, 2025 recommending attainment/unclassifiable for all 46 SC counties with respect to the reduced annual particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM₅) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).
  • For those tracking the status of the Augusta, GA monitor that shares a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) with SC, GA recommended an attainment/unclassifiable designation based on their exceptional events demonstration.
• SCDES has updated their background concentrations for permit modeling.
  • 2021-2023 design value data was made available on the website on March 6, 2025 and excludes atypical activities such as wildfires and prescribed burns.
  • This new data should be used for SC Standard Nos. 2 and 7 compliance demonstrations going forward.
• The ePermitting air program external “go live” is complete for all facility types. Starting February 1, 2025 all submissions for non-Title V facilities must be made using the ePermitting system. Air permit applications, required reports, and notifications should be submitted through the system. SCDES plans to hire an ePermitting super user to provide increased customer support and training videos.
• S. EPA has a court ordered deadline to finalize action on state implementation plans (SIPs) by June 30, 2025 to address public notice regulations for minor source permits. U.S. EPA proposed partial approval/partial disapproval of the SC SIP on January 21, 2025, with disapproval of most of the exemption changes and public notice language. SCDES is still working with U.S. EPA, but issuance of minor source permits will be delayed if a 30-day public notice is required and exemptions are not approved.
• SCDES has been studying distribution of PFAS in SC surface waters. So far, SCDES has learned:
  • PFAS has been detected at most surface water sites, but at highly variable concentrations.
  • PFAS chemicals that U.S. EPA is proposing to regulate in drinking water are commonly observed in surface waters at varying concentrations.
  • Surface water contains a mix of short and long chain PFAS, while freshwater fish tissues contain mainly long chain PFAS.
  • The Bureau of Water’s PFAS website includes updates, frequently asked questions, and a surface water PFAS monitoring application that shows monitoring results.

North Carolina Updates

• NCDAQ submitted an exceptional events demonstration for the annual PM₅ NAAQS to U.S. EPA on February 6, 2025 and recommended statewide attainment of the new PM_2.5 standard. If U.S. EPA agrees, flagged data will remain in the dataset but will not impact regulatory decision making. Additionally, background data for modeling purposes is available that removes “atypical” days. Finally, the amended rule in Title 15A of the North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC) 02D .0410 became effective March 1, 2025, lowering the annual PM_2.5 NAAQS to align with the federal standard.
• NCDAQ continues to provide technical assistance and guidance for disaster debris management and cleanup following Hurricane Helene. NCDAQ is using compliance and enforcement discretion with respect to timing of compliance reports and permit renewals for those impacted by the hurricane. On November 15, 2024, NCDAQ requested a No Action Assurance (NAA) letter from U.S. EPA to help facilitate an efficient and safe processing of certain disaster debris using air curtain incinerators (ACI). The NAA has been extended to September 1, 2025 and allows ACI’s burning certain disaster debris with capacity greater than 35 tons/day to operate in NC without obtaining a Title V permit provided that the owner notifies U.S. EPA Region 4, complies with Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration (CISWI) requirements, and complies with conditions imposed by state and local authorities. NCDAQ’s specific guidance on all environmental programs related to Hurricane Helene may be found here.
• Interim Maximum Allowable Concentrations (IMACs) were established and effective on October 15, 2024 for eight PFAS constituents in groundwater. The Division of Water Resources (DWR) Director is required to make a recommendation to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) within 12 months of the effective date of the IMACs as to whether the IMACs should be replaced by a new groundwater standard or expire. Parallel to establishment of the IMACs, DWR has proposed to establish groundwater standards for PFOA, PFOS, and GenX under 15A NCAC 02L.0202 with a proposed effective date of July 2025, if approved.
• NCDAQ is currently revising the regulatory impact analysis (RIA) associated with proposed changes to the Pre-Permitting Construction Provisions that would allow construction (but not operation) of a new source of air emissions prior to permit issuance, upon determination that the air permit application is administratively complete. This update will not apply to addition or modification of an emissions source subject to prevention of significant deterioration (PSD), residual risk-based hazardous air pollutant (HAP) standards, or case-by- case maximum achievable control technology (MACT). NCDAQ plans to request Air Quality Committee (AQC) approval in July 2025. This proposed rule change is early in the process, but if all approvals are received, the rule is expected to become effective in 2026.
• The EMC is seeking public comment on their initial determinations of whether individual rules outlined in 15A NCAC 02D and 02Q are necessary or unnecessary. Subchapter 02D rules include air pollution control requirements and Subchapter 02Q rules include air quality permit procedures. All rules have been initially determined as necessary. The public comment period is open May 20, 2025 to July 28, 2025.

Conclusion

ALL4 is tracking regulatory developments related to these and other environmental, health, and safety (EHS) topics. We look forward to seeing you this August at the North Carolina Manufacturers Alliance (NCMA) Environmental, Energy, Health and Safety (EEHS) School in Raleigh, NC and in October at the CAPCA technical workshop and forum in Myrtle Beach, SC! If you have questions about how these regulatory changes might affect you or need help with EHS permitting and compliance in North or South Carolina, please reach out to Claire Corta at ccorta@all4inc.com or 919-578-4195.