[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3230-3231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-1362]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6526-9]


Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes; Pennsylvania; SIP for Rate of 
Progress and for Attainment of the NAAQS for Ozone of the Philadelphia-
Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area

AGENCY:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:  Notice of Adequacy Status.

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SUMMARY:  EPA is announcing that the attainment motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (hereafter referred to as ``budgets'') contained in the State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Attainment of the NAAQS for Ozone 
Meeting the Requirements of the Alternative Ozone Attainment 
Demonstration Policy--Phase II for the Pennsylvania Portion of the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area, submitted on 
April 30, 1998, are not adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes. We are concurrently announcing that the Rate of Progress 
(ROP) motor vehicle emission budgets contained in this same SIP 
submittal are adequate for transportation conformity purposes. On 
November 16, 1999, EPA announced the same decision in a Federal 
Register publication entitled ``Adequacy Status of Submitted State 
Implementation Plans for Transportation Conformity Purposes: State 
Implementation Plan for Attainment and Maintenance of the NAAQS for 
Ozone--Southeastern Pennsylvania.'' We are, therefore, also announcing 
that in a letter to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania dated December 22, 
1999, we withdrew our findings regarding the adequacy of these budgets 
originally made in an October 26, 1999 letter and announced in the 
Federal Register on November 16, 1999. In the same December 22, letter, 
we made new findings regarding the adequacy of these budgets. 
Therefore, this announcement regarding the findings made on December 
22, 1999 supersedes and renders moot the announcement published on 
November 16, 1999 regarding the findings made on October 26, 1999.

DATES:  These findings regarding the adequacy of the budgets, made in a 
letter dated December 22, 1999 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, are 
effective on February 4, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Larry Budney, U.S. EPA, Region III, 
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 at (215) 814-2184 or by e-mail 
at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Throughout this document the terms ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' refer to EPA. The word ``budgets'' refers to the 
motor vehicle emission budgets for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) 
and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The word ``SIP'' in this document 
refers to the Phase II State Implementation Plan submitted by the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on April 30, 1998. This plan was submitted 
to demonstrate ROP in the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia-
Wilmington-Trenton ozone nonattainment area and to demonstrate 
attainment of the one-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard 
(NAAQS) for ozone throughout the nonattainment area.
    On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that the budgets 
contained in submitted SIPs cannot be used for transportation 
conformity determinations until EPA has affirmatively found them 
adequate. As a result of our finding, the attainment budgets contained 
in the submitted Phase II Ozone Attainment Plan may not be used for 
future conformity determinations, but the ROP motor vehicle emission 
budgets contained in the same submittal may be used for future 
conformity determinations in the Pennsylvania portion of the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton ozone nonattainment area.
    On April 30, 1998, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) submitted its State Implementation Plan for the 
Attainment and Maintenance of the NAAQS for Ozone Meeting the 
Requirements of the Alternative Ozone Attainment Demonstration Policy--
Phase II. The SIP contained mobile source vehicle emissions budgets 
both for ROP and for attainment. On August 2, 1999, the availability of 
the SIP and the motor vehicle emission budgets was posted on EPA's 
conformity WEB site for the purpose of soliciting public comment. The 
comment period closed on August 31, 1999, and no comments were 
received.
    On October 26, 1999, we sent a letter to the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania which constituted final Agency actions on the adequacy of 
the budgets contained in the Phase II SIP submitted by Pennsylvania on 
April 30, 1998. Those actions were EPA's findings that the attainment 
budgets were not adequate and that the ROP budgets were adequate. On 
November 16, 1999, we published our findings that the attainment 
budgets were not adequate and that the ROP budgets were adequate in a 
Federal Register announcement entitled ``Adequacy Status of Submitted 
State Implementation Plans for Transportation Conformity Purposes: 
State Implementation Plan for Attainment and Maintenance of the NAAQS 
for Ozone--Southeastern Pennsylvania'' (64 FR 62198). As indicated in 
that notice, the effective date of the Agency's October 26, 1999 
findings was December 1, 1999.
    In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) published on December 16, 
1999 (64 FR 70428), we proposed that additional measures are needed to 
support the attainment test for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton 
ozone nonattainment area. Pennsylvania has raised concerns that the 
text found in the NPR at section II.B.3, entitled Motor Vehicle 
Emissions Budget, may be interpreted to conclude that EPA took final 
Agency action in its October 26, 1999 letter to determine that 
additional measures to reduce emissions are required in the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton area to support the attainment test. 
This is not the case. The action published by EPA on December 16, 1999 
regarding the attainment demonstration contained in the Phase II SIP 
submitted by the Commonwealth on April 30, 1998 and supplemented on 
August 21, 1998, is a proposed action. EPA has invited comment on all 
matters raised in the NPR, including the need for additional measures.
    We wished to clarify its intent and to address the Commonwealth's 
concerns. Therefore, in a letter to the Commonwealth dated December 22, 
1999, we withdrew the October 26, 1999 final actions as to the adequacy 
of the motor vehicle emission budgets submitted by the Commonwealth in 
its April 30, 1998 Phase II SIP for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton 
nonattainment area. In the same December 22, 1999 letter, we took 
Agency actions on the adequacy of the budgets in Pennsylvania's Phase 
II SIP by finding that the attainment budgets

[[Page 3231]]

were not adequate and that the ROP budgets were adequate. The December 
22, 1999 letter also clearly indicated that it superseded any final 
actions which had occurred on October 26, 1999, and that the withdrawal 
of the findings made on October 26, 1999 was effective immediately 
(December 22, 1999).
    As stated above, on December 22, 1999, we informed the Commonwealth 
of our finding that the motor vehicle emission budgets in the Phase II 
SIP submitted by the Commonwealth are not adequate for the purposes of 
transportation conformity. Among other things, the attainment budgets, 
when considered together with all other emission reductions, must be 
consistent with applicable requirements for attainment as required in 
40 CFR Part 93, Sec. 93.118(e)(4)(iv). In making our finding that the 
attainment budgets are not adequate, we have preliminarily determined 
that the submitted Phase II attainment SIP does not fully provide for 
attainment. This preliminary determination is not a final agency action 
and is rather one of the issues in our December 16, 1999 Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (64 FR 70428).
    On December 22, 1999, we also informed the Commonwealth that we 
found the motor vehicle emission budgets in the 1999, 2002, and 2005 
ROP plan adequate since they met the review criteria in 40 CFR Part 93, 
Sec. 93.118(e)(4)(i) through (e)(4)(vi) of the conformity rule.
    This is an announcement of adequacy findings that we already made 
on December 22, 1999. The effective date of these findings is February 
4, 2000. These findings will also be announced on EPA's website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq (once there, click on the ``Conformity'' button, 
then look for ``Adequacy Review of SIP 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 NAAQS.
    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 finding is separate from EPA's 
completeness finding, and separate from EPA's finding whether or not 
the SIP is approvable. Even if we find a budget adequate, the SIP could 
later be disapproved. We described our process for determining the 
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in a guidance memorandum dated May 
14, 1999 titled ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 
1999 Conformity Court Decision''. We followed this guidance in making 
our adequacy findings for the budgets contained in the ``SIP for Rate 
of Progress Emission Reductions and for Attainment of the NAAQS for 
Ozone Meeting the Requirements of the Alternative Ozone Attainment 
Demonstration Policy--Phase II'' submitted on April 30, 1998 by PADEP. 
You may obtain a copy of this guidance from EPA's conformity web site 
referred to above or by calling the contact name listed in the For 
Further Information Contact section of this notice.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

    Dated: January 10, 2000.
Bradley M. Campbell,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 00-1362 Filed 1-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLIING CODE 6560-50-P