[Federal Register: March 23, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 54)]
[Notices]
[Page 12128-12129]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23mr09-41]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-409-OAR-09-0148; FRL-8783-2]
Proposed Determination for Washoe County Moe
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; request for comments and notice of opportunity for
public hearing.
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SUMMARY: EPA has made a proposed determination that reduction in
expenditures of non-Federal funds for the Washoe County District Health
Department (WCDHD) in Reno, Nevada are a result of county-wide non-
selective reductions in expenditures. This determination, when final,
will permit the WCDHD to receive grant funding for FY2009 from the EPA,
under Section 105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received
by EPA at the address state below by April 22, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number [09-0148], by
one of the following methods:
1. Federal Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line
instructions.
2. E-mail: ford.roy@epa.gov
3. or deliver to: Roy Rod (Air-8), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Instructions: All comments will be included in the public docket
without change and may be made available online at http://
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes Confidential Business Information (CBI) or
other information whose disclosure is districted by protected should be
clearly identified as such and should not be submitted through http://
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. http://www.regulations.gov is an
``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not know your identity or
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
If you send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the public comment. If
EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your
comment.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., CBI). To
inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an appointment during
normal business hours with the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Ford, EPA Region IX, (415) 972-
3997, ford.roy@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of Section 105 of the
CAA, EPA provides grant funding to the WCDHD to aid in the operation of
its air
[[Page 12129]]
pollution control programs. In FY2008, EPA awarded the WCDHD $632,694,
which represented approximately 36% of the WCDHD budget. In FY2009, EPA
will award the WCDHD $632, 649, which represents approximately 43% pf
the WCDHD budget.
Section 105(c) (1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c) (1) provides that
``no agency shall receive any grant under this section during any
fiscal year when its expenditures of non-Federal funds for recurrent
expenditures for air pollution control programs will be less than its
expenditures were for such programs during the preceding fiscal year.
However, pursuant to Section 105(c) (2) of the CAA, EPA may still award
a grant to an agency not meeting the requirements of Section 105(c)
(2), ``if the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for public
hearing, determines that a reduction in expenditures is attributable to
a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the programs of all
Executive branch agencies of the applicable unit of the Government.''
These statutory requirements are repeated in EPA's implementing
regulations at 40 CFR 35 140-35.148.
WCDHD's final Financial Status Report for FY08 indicated that
WCDHD's maintenance of effort (MOE) level was $1,711,833. The budgeted
FY2009 MOE is $1,451,265.
The projected MOE is not sufficient to meet the MOE requirements
under the CAA Section 105 because it is not equal to or greater than
the MOE for the previous fiscal year. In order for the WCDHD to be
eligible to receive its FY2009 CAA Section 105 grant, EPA must make a
determination (after notice and opportunity for a public hearing) that
the reduction in expenditures is attributable to a non-selective
reduction in the expenditures in the programs of all the Washoe County
agencies. EPA, Region IX has yet to award the Section 105 award for the
FY09 to the WCDHD.
The shortfall stems from an action taken by the Washoe County Board
of County Commissioners in February 2008, directing Washoe County
agencies to reduce budget expenditures in order to make up for a budget
deficit of $22,700,000. The budget cuts were not aimed solely at the
Health District. Each entity in Washoe County was required to reduce
budget expenditures, including police and fire protection services,
etc.
The Health District has five divisions: (1) Administrative Health
Services (AHS); (2) Air Quality Management (AWM); (3) Community and
Clinical Health Services (CCHS); (4) Environmental Health Services
(EHS); and (5) Epidemiology and Public Health Preparedness (EPHP). Each
division has borne a percentage of the total FY09 reduction. The
combined reduction in budgeted expenditures for the Health District in
FY2009 (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009) totaled approximately
$1,581,515 as summarized below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY09 % of
Division FY09 $ total
reduction reduction
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AHS*.................................... $(188,509) -11.89%
AQM**................................... $84,000 5.32%
CCHS.................................... $1,105,569 69.91%
EHS..................................... $435,681 27.55%
EPHP.................................... $144,188 9.12%
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Total............................... $1,581,515 100%
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* AHS ``negative'' reduction due to payout budget for organizational
retirements $147,000 and reorganization of personnel from CCHS and EHS
to AHS (Department Computer Application Specialist, GIS Specialist,
Account Clerk II, and Administrative Assistant II, -41,509).
** AQM reduction only reflects one vacancy Public Information Officer.
However, two additional vacancies (Administrative Secretary Supervisor
and Senior Air Quality Specialist) are anticipated to remain unfilled
until funding is available. Therefore, three vacancies are reflected
in FY09 anticipated MOE of $1,451,265.
To meet the $1,057,965 reduction requirements for FY09, the Health
District substantially reduced budget for personnel (-$1,022,065) and
minimally reduced budget for operating expenditures (-$35,000). Ten
positions were permanently abolished and the Health District is holding
seven (7) vacancies ``dark''. The ``dark'' positions will remain vacant
until sufficient funding is available. To meet the additional $532,550
reduction requirements for FY09, the Health District substantially
reduced the budget for personnel: (-$501,550) and minimally reduced the
budget for operating expenditures (-$31,000). The majority of the
reduction came from the Family Planning Program local budget, which was
reduced by 50%, or $372,250.
The WCDHD's MOE reduction resulted from a loss of revenues from the
County to all agencies due to circumstances beyond its control. EPA
proposes to determine that the WCDHD lower FY9 MOE level meets the CAA
Section 105(c)(2) criteria as resulting from a non-selective reduction
of expenditures.
This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an
opportunity for public hearing as required by the CAA. All written
comments received by April 22, 2009 on this proposal will be
considered. EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only if
a written request for such is received by EPA at the address above by
April 22, 2009. If no written request for a hearing is received, EPA
will proceed to the final determination. While notice of the final
determination will not be published in the Federal Register, copies of
the determination can be obtained by sending a written request to Roy
Ford at the above address.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7405 et seq.
Dated: March 9, 2009.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E9-6159 Filed 3-20-09; 8:45 am]