North
Carolina
Recommendation
for
Catawba
County
The
purpose
of
this
paper
is
to
discuss
the
rationale
for
recommending
the
metropolitan
planning
boundary
in
Catawba
County,
along
with
parts
of
Alexander,
Burke,
and
Caldwell,
rather
than
the
entire
Metropolitan
Statistical
Area
as
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard.

 
This
area
has
a
marginal
8­
hour
ozone
problem,
with
the
2000­
2002
design
values
being
0.086
ppm
at
the
Lenoir
site
(
Caldwell
County)
and
0.091
ppm
at
the
Taylorsville
site.
The
2001­
2003
design
values
are
0.084
for
the
Lenoir
site
and
0.088
ppm
for
the
Taylorsville
site.
 
A
back
trajectory
wind
analysis
suggests
that
these
sites
are
impacted
by
transport
from
the
west
and
northwest,
and
that
pollution
comes
over
the
mountains
and
mixes
down
into
the
valleys
where
the
monitors
are
located.
There
are
also
a
number
of
days
when
both
Charlotte
and
the
Triad
are
having
impacts
on
these
sites.
For
these
reasons,
we
recommend
a
smaller
area
than
the
full
MSA.
 
Catawba
County
has
a
population
of
141,685.
The
MPO
Planning
boundary
captures
257,572
people,
of
the
total
341,851
people
living
in
the
four
county
MSA,
or
75
percent
of
the
population
represented
in
the
MPO
Planning
boundary.
 
Catawba
County
has
121.62
tons
per
day
of
NOx
(
state
total
is
2529
tons
per
day)
and
the
county
has
55.09
tons
per
day
of
VOC
(
state
total
is
1842
tons
per
day).
The
majority
of
the
NOx
emissions
in
Catawba
County
are
from
the
Marshall
Steam
Station,
which
is
subject
to
the
NOx
SIP
Call
and
the
Clean
Smokestacks
Act.
The
NOx
emissions
from
this
source
will
be
reduced
from
about
95
tons
per
day
in
1997
to
about
48
tons
per
day
in
2007.
In
addition,
the
mobile
emissions
(
15.48
tons
per
day
of
NOx
in
1997)
will
be
reduced
by
Federal
and
State
control
programs.
 
Based
on
the
most
recent
modeling
analysis,
North
Carolina
expects
this
region
to
attain
by
2007.
 
In
conclusion,
the
parts
of
Catawba
County
that
are
not
included
in
the
proposed
designation
are
fairly
rural
(
typical
population
density
is
100­
250
persons
per
square
mile).
Given
the
impact
of
transported
pollutants
on
the
MPO
area,
the
proposed
area
to
be
designated
nonattainment
will
benefit
from
pollution
controls
in
downwind
areas.
Emissions
sources
in
Catawba
County
will
be
controlled
by
the
NOx
SIP
Call,
Clean
Smokestacks
Act,
Federal
motor
vehicle
control
program
and
the
State
I/
M
program.
Current
modeling
leads
North
Carolina
to
believe
the
entire
MPO
area
will
attain
by
2007.
