[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8701-8702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4122]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6541-4]


Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Submitted 
State Implementation Plans for Transportation Conformity Purposes; 
Maryland; Phase II Plan for the Baltimore Ozone Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy status.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing that the revised motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (hereafter referred to as ``budgets'') contained in the revised 
Phase II Plan for the Baltimore Ozone Nonattainment Area submitted by 
the State of Maryland as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision are 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The State submitted 
the revised Phase II plan to EPA for parallel processing on December 3, 
1999, and then formally submitted it on December 21, 1999. The Phase II 
SIP consists of the attainment demonstration and the two Post 99 Rate-
of-Progress (ROP) plans (2002 and 2005) for the Baltimore nonattainment 
area. EPA has found the attainment budgets and the ROP budgets of the 
submitted revised Phase II SIP for the Baltimore area adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes.

DATES: The findings that the attainment and ROP budgets are adequate, 
made in a letter dated February 15, 2000 to the Maryland Department of 
the Environment, are effective on March 8, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul T. Wentworth, P.E., 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 revised Phase II Plan for the Baltimore nonattainment 
area submitted to EPA by the Maryland Department of the Environment 
(MDE) for parallel processing on December 3, 1999 and formally 
submitted on December 21, 1999. The Phase II Plan includes the 
attainment demonstration for the one-hour National Ambient Air Quality 
Standard (NAAQS) for ozone and the two Post 99 ROP plans (2002 and 
2005) for the Baltimore 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 findings, the attainment budgets and the 
ROP budgets contained in the submitted revised Phase II SIP for the 
Baltimore ozone nonattainment area may be used for future conformity 
determinations.
    On April 29, 1998, MDE submitted its Phase II SIP for the Baltimore 
area. That Phase II SIP contained mobile source vehicle emissions 
budgets both for ROP and for attainment. On August 2, 1999, the 
availability of the Phase II 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 EPA we sent a letter to MDE 
which constituted final Agency actions on the adequacy of the budgets 
contained in the Phase II SIP submitted on April 29, 1999. Those 
actions were EPA's findings that the budgets were not adequate.
    On December 3, 1999, a revised Phase II plan with new attainment 
and ROP budgets was submitted as a SIP revision by MDE for parallel 
processing. The revised Phase II plan was formally submitted on 
December 21, 1999. On December 21, 1999, we posted the availability of 
the SIP and the motor vehicle emission budgets on our conformity 
website for the purpose of soliciting public comment on the adequacy of 
the mobile budgets. The comment period closed on January 20, 2000. EPA 
received comments from the University of Maryland School of Law on 
behalf of its client, an organization called the 1000 Friends of 
Maryland.
    On February 15, 2000, we sent a letter to MDE which constituted 
final Agency actions on the adequacy of the budgets contained in the 
revised Phase II SIP. Those actions were EPA's findings that the 
attainment budgets and the ROP budgets are adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes. This is an announcement of adequacy findings that 
we already made on February 15, 2000. The effective date of these 
findings is March 8, 2000. These findings will also be announced on 
EPA's website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq, (once there, click on the

[[Page 8702]]

``Conformity'' button, then look for ``Adequacy Review of SIP 
Submissions for Conformity''). The website will contain a detailed 
analysis of our adequacy finding and our responses to the public 
comments received from the University of Maryland School of Law on 
behalf of its client, the 1000 Friends of Maryland. Transportation 
conformity is required by section 176 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 describe our process for determining the 
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in a guidance memorandum dated May 
14, 1999 entitled ``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 revised Phase II 
submitted on December 3, 1999 and December 21, 1999 by MDE. You may 
obtain a copy of this guidance from EPA's conformity website 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: February 15, 2000.
Bradley M. Campbell,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 00-4122 Filed 2-17-00; 8:45 am]
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