[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 241 (Thursday, December 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 66963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-30048]
[[Page 66963]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0853; FRL-9093-2]
Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Budget in Submitted Subsequent
NO2 Maintenance Plan for the South Coast Area for Transportation
Conformity Purposes; California
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Adequacy.
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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that the Agency
has found that the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) motor vehicle
emissions budgets in the subsequent NO2 maintenance plan
portion of the 2007 South Coast State Implementation Plan (SIP) are
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The 2007 South Coast
SIP was submitted to EPA on November 28, 2007 by the California Air
Resources Board as a revision to the California state implementation
plan. CARB corrected the NO2 motor vehicle emissions budgets
from the 2007 South Coast SIP by letter dated May 1, 2009. As a result
of our finding, the Southern California Association of Governments and
the U.S. Department of Transportation must use the NO2 motor
vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted subsequent NO2
maintenance plan for future transportation conformity determinations.
DATES: This finding is effective January 4, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wienke Tax, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air
Division AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901;
(415) 947-4192 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Today's notice is simply an announcement of a finding that we have
already made. EPA Region IX sent a letter to the California Air
Resources Board on November 20, 2009 stating that the 2002 and 2020
motor vehicle emissions budgets for NO2 in the submitted
2007 AQMP are adequate. The budgets correspond to the South Coast
NO2 maintenance area, which generally includes Orange
County, the southwestern two-thirds of Los Angeles County, southwestern
San Bernardino County, and western Riverside County. Receipt of these
motor vehicle emissions budgets was announced on EPA's transportation
conformity Web site, and no comments were submitted. The finding is
available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm.
The adequate 2002 and 2020 motor vehicle emissions budgets
(calculated for a winter season day) are provided in the following
table:
Adequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget
(In tons per day)
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NO2 motor vehicle emissions
Budget Year budgets
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2002 and 2020.......................... 680 tons per day (winter
season)
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Transportation conformity is required by Clean Air Act section
176(c). EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation plans,
transportation improvement programs, and projects conform to state air
quality implementation plans (SIPs) and establishes the criteria and
procedures for determining whether or not they do conform. 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 motor vehicle
emissions budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in
40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). We have described our process for determining the
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in our July 1, 2004, preamble
starting at 69 FR 40038, and we used the information in these resources
while making our adequacy determination. Please note that an adequacy
review is separate from EPA's completeness review, and should not be
used to prejudge EPA's ultimate approval action for the SIP. Even if we
find a budget adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: December 2, 2009.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E9-30048 Filed 12-16-09; 8:45 am]
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