[Federal Register: November 16, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 220)]
[Notices]
[Page 62198]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16no99-75]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6475-8]
Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for
Transportation Conformity Purposes: State Implementation Plan for Ozone
for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of adequacy status.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In this document EPA is announcing that the motor vehicle
emissions budgets (hereafter referred to as ``budgets'') contained the
State Implementation Plan (SIP) for Ozone for the Pittsburgh-Beaver
Valley Nonattainment Area by the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection are not adequate for transportation conformity
purposes. As a result of our finding, the budgets from this submitted
SIP cannot be used for future conformity determinations in the
Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley ozone nonattainment area.
DATES: This document is effective November 16, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Budney, U.S. EPA, Region III,
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19103 at (215) 814-2184 or by e-
mail at: budney.larry@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we'',
``us,'' or ``our'' are used we mean EPA. The word ``budgets'' refers to
the mobile source emission budget for volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and the mobile source emissions budget for nitrogen oxides
(NOX). The word SIP in this document refers to the submittal
made by PADEP to satisfy the requirements for demonstrating attainment.
On December 31, 1997, PADEP submitted the State Implementation Plan
for Ozone for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Nonattainment Area. This SIP
did not contain clearly identified and precisely quantified motor
vehicle emission budgets for NOX and VOCs. On March 2, 1999,
the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that budgets contained in submitted SIPs
cannot be used for conformity determinations until EPA has
affirmatively found them adequate. In accordance with that ruling, on
August 2, 1999, we posted a notice on our web site at: http://
www.epa.gov/oms/traq stating that we were taking comments on the
adequacy of motor vehicle emissions budget found in the State
Implementation Plan for Ozone for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley
Nonattainment Area. The comment period closed on August 31, 1999, and
we received no comments.
Today's document is simply an announcement of a finding that we
have already made. On October 26, 1999, EPA Region III sent a letter to
PADEP stating that the motor vehicle emissions budgets found in the
State Implementation Plan for Ozone for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley
Nonattainment Area are not adequate. The essential information in this
document will also be posted on EPA's conformity website: http://
www.epa.gov/oms/traq (once there, click on the ``Conformity'' button,
then look for ``Adequacy Review of Submissions for Conformity'').
Transportation conformity is required by section 176 (c) of the
Clean Air Act. EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation
plans, programs, and projects conform to SIPs and establishes the
criteria and procedures for determining whether or not they do so.
Conformity to a SIP means that transportation activities will not
produce new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or
delay timely attainment of the national ambient air quality standards.
The criteria by which we determine whether a SIP's budgets are
adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 93.118 (e) (4).
Please note that an adequacy review is separate from EPA's completeness
review, and EPA's review to determine if the SIP is approvable. Even if
we find a budget adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.
We have described our process for determining the adequacy of
submitted SIP budgets in a guidance memorandum dated May 14, 1999 and
titled ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999
Conformity Court Decision.'' We have followed this guidance in making
this adequacy determination for the budgets contained in the State
Implementation Plan for Ozone for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley
Nonattainment Area. You may obtain a copy of this guidance from EPA's
conformity web site: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq (once there, click on
the ``Conformity'' button) or by calling the contact name listed in FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Dated: November 4, 1999.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 99-29888 Filed 11-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P