[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 17]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR93.101]
[Page 545-548]
TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
PART 93--DETERMINING CONFORMITY OF FEDERAL ACTIONS TO STATE OR FEDERAL IMPLEMENTATION PLANS--Table of Contents
Subpart A--Conformity to State or Federal Implementation Plans of
Transportation Plans, Programs, and Projects Developed, Funded or
Approved Under Title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Laws
Sec. 93.101 Definitions.
Terms used but not defined in this subpart shall have the meaning
given them by the CAA, titles 23 and 49 U.S.C., other Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, or other DOT regulations, in that
order of priority.
Applicable implementation plan is defined in section 302(q) of the
CAA and means the portion (or portions) of the implementation plan, or
most recent revision thereof, which has been approved under section 110,
or promulgated under section 110(c), or promulgated or approved pursuant
to regulations promulgated under section 301(d) and which implements the
relevant requirements of the CAA.
CAA means the Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
Cause or contribute to a new violation for a project means:
(1) To cause or contribute to a new violation of a standard in the
area substantially affected by the project or over a region which would
otherwise not be in violation of the standard during the future period
in question, if the project were not implemented; or
(2) To contribute to a new violation in a manner that would increase
the frequency or severity of a new violation of a standard in such area.
Clean data means air quality monitoring data determined by EPA to
meet the requirements of 40 CFR part 58 that indicate attainment of the
national ambient air quality standard.
Control strategy implementation plan revision is the implementation
plan which contains specific strategies for controlling the emissions of
and reducing ambient levels of pollutants in order to satisfy CAA
requirements for demonstrations of reasonable further progress and
attainment (CAA sections 182(b)(1), 182(c)(2)(A), 182(c)(2)(B),
187(a)(7), 189(a)(1)(B), and 189(b)(1)(A); and sections 192(a) and
192(b), for nitrogen dioxide).
Design concept means the type of facility identified by the project,
e.g., freeway, expressway, arterial highway, grade-separated highway,
reserved right-of-way rail transit, mixed-traffic rail transit,
exclusive busway, etc.
Design scope means the design aspects which will affect the proposed
facility's impact on regional emissions, usually as they relate to
vehicle or person carrying capacity and control, e.g., number of lanes
or tracks to be constructed or added, length of project, signalization,
access control including approximate number and location of
interchanges, preferential treatment for high-occupancy vehicles, etc.
DOT means the United States Department of Transportation.
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EPA means the Environmental Protection Agency.
FHWA means the Federal Highway Administration of DOT.
FHWA/FTA project, for the purpose of this subpart, is any highway or
transit project which is proposed to receive funding assistance and
approval through the Federal-Aid Highway program or the Federal mass
transit program, or requires Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approval for some aspect of the
project, such as connection to an interstate highway or deviation from
applicable design standards on the interstate system.
Forecast period with respect to a transportation plan is the period
covered by the transportation plan pursuant to 23 CFR part 450.
FTA means the Federal Transit Administration of DOT.
Highway project is an undertaking to implement or modify a highway
facility or highway-related program. Such an undertaking consists of all
required phases necessary for implementation. For analytical purposes,
it must be defined sufficiently to:
(1) Connect logical termini and be of sufficient length to address
environmental matters on a broad scope;
(2) Have independent utility or significance, i.e., be usable and be
a reasonable expenditure even if no additional transportation
improvements in the area are made; and
(3) Not restrict consideration of alternatives for other reasonably
foreseeable transportation improvements.
Horizon year is a year for which the transportation plan describes
the envisioned transportation system according to Sec. 93.106.
Hot-spot analysis is an estimation of likely future localized CO and
PM10 pollutant concentrations and a comparison of those
concentrations to the national ambient air quality standards. Hot-spot
analysis assesses impacts on a scale smaller than the entire
nonattainment or maintenance area, including, for example, congested
roadway intersections and highways or transit terminals, and uses an air
quality dispersion model to determine the effects of emissions on air
quality.
Increase the frequency or severity means to cause a location or
region to exceed a standard more often or to cause a violation at a
greater concentration than previously existed and/or would otherwise
exist during the future period in question, if the project were not
implemented.
Lapse means that the conformity determination for a transportation
plan or TIP has expired, and thus there is no currently conforming
transportation plan and TIP.
Maintenance area means any geographic region of the United States
previously designated nonattainment pursuant to the CAA Amendments of
1990 and subsequently redesignated to attainment subject to the
requirement to develop a maintenance plan under section 175A of the CAA,
as amended.
Maintenance plan means an implementation plan under section 175A of
the CAA, as amended.
Metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is that organization
designated as being responsible, together with the State, for conducting
the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process under 23
U.S.C. 134 and 49 U.S.C. 5303. It is the forum for cooperative
transportation decision-making.
Milestone has the meaning given in sections 182(g)(1) and 189(c) of
the CAA. A milestone consists of an emissions level and the date on
which it is required to be achieved.
Motor vehicle emissions budget is that portion of the total
allowable emissions defined in the submitted or approved control
strategy implementation plan revision or maintenance plan for a certain
date for the purpose of meeting reasonable further progress milestones
or demonstrating attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS, for any
criteria pollutant or its precursors, allocated to highway and transit
vehicle use and emissions.
National ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) are those standards
established pursuant to section 109 of the CAA.
NEPA means the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
NEPA process completion, for the purposes of this subpart, with
respect to FHWA or FTA, means the point at
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which there is a specific action to make a determination that a project
is categorically excluded, to make a Finding of No Significant Impact,
or to issue a record of decision on a Final Environmental Impact
Statement under NEPA.
Nonattainment area means any geographic region of the United States
which has been designated as nonattainment under section 107 of the CAA
for any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality standard
exists.
Project means a highway project or transit project.
Protective finding means a determination by EPA that a submitted
control strategy implementation plan revision contains adopted control
measures or written commitments to adopt enforceable control measures
that fully satisfy the emissions reductions requirements relevant to the
statutory provision for which the implementation plan revision was
submitted, such as reasonable further progress or attainment.
Recipient of funds designated under title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal
Transit Laws means any agency at any level of State, county, city, or
regional government that routinely receives title 23 U.S.C. or Federal
Transit Laws funds to construct FHWA/FTA projects, operate FHWA/FTA
projects or equipment, purchase equipment, or undertake other services
or operations via contracts or agreements. This definition does not
include private landowners or developers, or contractors or entities
that are only paid for services or products created by their own
employees.
Regionally significant project means a transportation project (other
than an exempt project) that is on a facility which serves regional
transportation needs (such as access to and from the area outside of the
region, major activity centers in the region, major planned developments
such as new retail malls, sports complexes, etc., or transportation
terminals as well as most terminals themselves) and would normally be
included in the modeling of a metropolitan area's transportation
network, including at a minimum all principal arterial highways and all
fixed guideway transit facilities that offer an alternative to regional
highway travel.
Safety margin means the amount by which the total projected
emissions from all sources of a given pollutant are less than the total
emissions that would satisfy the applicable requirement for reasonable
further progress, attainment, or maintenance.
Standard means a national ambient air quality standard.
Transit is mass transportation by bus, rail, or other conveyance
which provides general or special service to the public on a regular and
continuing basis. It does not include school buses or charter or
sightseeing services.
Transit project is an undertaking to implement or modify a transit
facility or transit-related program; purchase transit vehicles or
equipment; or provide financial assistance for transit operations. It
does not include actions that are solely within the jurisdiction of
local transit agencies, such as changes in routes, schedules, or fares.
It may consist of several phases. For analytical purposes, it must be
defined inclusively enough to:
(1) Connect logical termini and be of sufficient length to address
environmental matters on a broad scope;
(2) Have independent utility or independent significance, i.e., be a
reasonable expenditure even if no additional transportation improvements
in the area are made; and
(3) Not restrict consideration of alternatives for other reasonably
foreseeable transportation improvements.
Transportation control measure (TCM) is any measure that is
specifically identified and committed to in the applicable
implementation plan that is either one of the types listed in section
108 of the CAA, or any other measure for the purpose of reducing
emissions or concentrations of air pollutants from transportation
sources by reducing vehicle use or changing traffic flow or congestion
conditions. Notwithstanding the first sentence of this definition,
vehicle technology-based, fuel-based, and maintenance-based measures
which control the emissions from vehicles under fixed traffic conditions
are not TCMs for the purposes of this subpart.
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Transportation improvement program (TIP) means a staged, multiyear,
intermodal program of transportation projects covering a metropolitan
planning area which is consistent with the metropolitan transportation
plan, and developed pursuant to 23 CFR part 450.
Transportation plan means the official intermodal metropolitan
transportation plan that is developed through the metropolitan planning
process for the metropolitan planning area, developed pursuant to 23 CFR
part 450.
Transportation project is a highway project or a transit project.
Written commitment for the purposes of this subpart means a written
commitment that includes a description of the action to be taken; a
schedule for the completion of the action; a demonstration that funding
necessary to implement the action has been authorized by the
appropriating or authorizing body; and an acknowledgment that the
commitment is an enforceable obligation under the applicable
implementation plan.