[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 92 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 21462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11753]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5502-8]


Air Pollution Control; Proposed Actions on Clean Air Act Grants 
to the South Coast Air Quality Management District; California

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed determinations with request for comments and notice of 
opportunity for public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. EPA has made two proposed determinations that 
reductions in expenditures of non-Federal funds for the South Coast Air 
Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in Diamond Bar, California are a 
result of non-selective reductions in expenditures. These 
determinations, when final, will permit the SCAQMD to keep the 
financial assistance awarded to it by EPA for FY-95, and to be awarded 
financial assistance for FY-96 by EPA, under section 105(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received 
by EPA at the address stated below by June 10, 1996.

ADDRESSES: All comments and/or requests for a public hearing should be 
mailed to: Douglas K. McDaniel, Air Grants Section (A-2-3), Air and 
Toxics Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, California 94105-3901; FAX (415) 744-1076.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas K. McDaniel, Air Grants 
Section (A-2-3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105-3901 at (415) 744-
1246.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of Section 105 of the 
CAA, EPA provides financial assistance (grants) to the SCAQMD, whose 
jurisdiction includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in southern 
California, to aid in the operation of its air pollution control 
programs. In FY-95, EPA awarded the SCAQMD $7,454,238, which 
represented approximately 7.8% of the SCAQMD's budget.
    Section 105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that 
``[n]o 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. 
In order for [EPA] to award grants under this section in a timely 
manner each fiscal year, [EPA] shall compare an agency's prospective 
expenditure level to that of its second preceding year.'' EPA may still 
award financial assistance to an agency not meeting this requirement, 
however, if EPA, ``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 Government.'' CAA 
Sec. 105(c)(2). These statutory requirements are repeated in EPA's 
implementing regulations at 40 CFR 35.210(a).
    In its FY-95 Sec. 105 application, which EPA reviewed in early 
1995, the SCAQMD projected expenditures of non-Federal funds for 
recurrent expenditures (or its maintenance of effort (MOE)) of 
$82,811,585. This MOE would have been sufficient to meet the MOE 
requirements of the CAA, i.e. it would have been equal to or greater 
than the MOE for the previous year (FY-94). In January of 1996, 
however, the SCAQMD submitted to EPA final documentation which shows 
that its actual FY-95 MOE was $78,479,091. This amount represents a 
shortfall of $2,026,404 from the MOE of $80,505,495 for the preceding 
fiscal year (FY-94). In order for the SCAQMD to be eligible to keep its 
FY-95 grant, EPA must make a determination under Sec. 105(c)(2).
    Furthermore, in its FY-96 Sec. 105 grant application the SCAQMD 
projected MOE of $78,452,571. This amount represents a shortfall of 
$26,520 from the actual FY-95 MOE of $78,479,091. In order for the 
SCAQMD to be eligible to be awarded its FY-96 grant, EPA must make a 
determination under Sec. 105(c)(2).
    The SCAQMD is a single-purpose agency whose primary source of 
funding is emission fee revenue. It is the ``unit of Government'' for 
Sec. 105(c)(2) purposes. The SCAQMD submitted documentation to EPA 
which shows that over the last three years emission reductions brought 
on by a combination of economic recession and more restrictive emission 
rules have reduced fee revenues from stationary sources from a high of 
$74,433,331 in 1990-1991 to $52,282,026 in 1994-1995. The SCAQMD 
projects this revenue loss to continue through FY-96. As a result, the 
SCAQMD has instituted hiring/salary freezes, furloughs, and layoffs, 
has reduced its equipment purchases and contract expenditures, and has 
instituted new programs to reduce costs such as permit streamlining, 
computer-assisted permit processing, and privatization efforts.
    Therefore, the SCAQMD's MOE reductions resulted from a loss of fee 
revenues due to circumstances beyond its control. EPA proposes to 
determine that the SCAQMD's lower FY-95 and FY-96 MOE levels meet the 
Sec. 105(c)(2) criteria as resulting from a non-selective reduction of 
expenditures. Pursuant to 40 CFR 35.210, these determinations will 
allow the SCAQMD to keep the funds received from EPA for FY-95 and be 
awarded financial assistance for FY-96.
    This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an 
opportunity for public hearing as required by the Clean Air Act. All 
written comments received by June 10, 1996 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 
June 10, 1996.
    If no written request for a hearing is received, EPA will proceed 
to both final determinations. While notice of the final determinations 
will not be published in the Federal Register, copies of the 
determinations can be obtained by sending a written request to Douglas 
McDaniel at the above address.

    Dated: May 2, 1996.
David P. Howekamp,
Director, Air and Toxics Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9.
[FR Doc. 96-11753 Filed 5-9-96; 8:45 am]
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