[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62196-62197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-29887]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6475-7]


Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes: Phase II Ozone Attainment SIPs for 
the Baltimore Area and Cecil County

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy status.

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SUMMARY: In this document EPA is announcing that the motor vehicle 
emissions budgets (hereafter referred to as ``budgets'') contained in 
the submitted Phase II Ozone Attainment SIPs for the Baltimore ozone 
nonattainment area and the Cecil County, Maryland portion of the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton ozone nonattainment area are not 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. As a result of our 
finding, the budgets from these submitted State Implementation Plans 
(SIPs) may not be used for future conformity

[[Page 62197]]

determinations in the Baltimore area and in Cecil County.

DATES: This document is effective November 16, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul T. Wentworth, P.E., U.S. EPA, 
Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19103 at (215) 814-2183 
or by e-mail at: [email protected].

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 State 
Implementation Plan revisions submitted to satisfy the requirements for 
attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard.
    On April 24, 1998, we received Phase II Ozone Attainment SIPs for 
the Baltimore area and the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia-
Wilmington-Trenton ozone nonattainment areas from the Maryland 
Department of the Environment. The April 24, 1998 submittals contained 
motor vehicle emissions budgets for NOX and VOC for the 
Baltimore area and for Cecil County. 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 April 24, 1998 submittals. The comment period 
closed on August 31, 1999. 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 letters to 
the Maryland Department of the Environment stating that the motor 
vehicle emissions budgets found in the April 24, 1998 submittals for 
the Baltimore area and for Cecil County are not adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. 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 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 Phase II Ozone 
Attainment SIPs for the Baltimore area and for Cecil County submitted 
on April 24, 1998. 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. 99-29887 Filed 11-15-99; 8:45 am]
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