[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 111 (Thursday, June 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36440-36441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14600]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6713-5]


Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Submitted 
State Implementation Plans for Transportation Conformity Purposes; 
Delaware; Revised Phase II SIP for 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 revised motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (budgets) contained in the revised Phase II Plan for the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area submitted by 
the State of Delaware as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision are 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The State of Delaware 
submitted its revised 2005 attainment demonstration (attainment plan) 
for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area on 
January 24, 2000. On February 3, 2000, Delaware submitted and its Post 
1999 Rate-of-Progress (ROP) Plan (for milestone year 2002) for the 
Delaware portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton area , Kent and 
New Castle Counties. The combination of the attainment plan and Post 99 
ROP plan are commonly referred to as the Phase II plan. EPA has found 
the budgets in the revised Phase II Plan submitted by the State of 
Delaware for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment 
Area adequate for transportation conformity purposes.

DATES: The findings that the budgets are adequate were made in a letter 
dated May 31, 2000 from EPA Region III to the Delaware Department of 
Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and are effective 
on June 23, 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 words ``revised Phase II 
SIP'' in this document refers to the 2005 attainment demonstration for 
the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area submitted 
to EPA by the DNREC on January 24, 2000 and the Post 1999 ROP plan 
(2002) for the Delaware portion of the area submitted to EPA by DNREC 
on February 3, 2000. The Phase II SIP includes the attainment 
demonstration for the one-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard 
(NAAQS) for ozone for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone 
Nonattainment Area and the Post 99 ROP plan (2002) for the Delaware 
portion of the 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.
    The State of Delaware submitted a revised 2005 attainment plan for 
the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area to EPA on 
January 24, 2000 and a Post 1999 ROP plan (2002) for the Delaware 
portion of the area on February 3, 2000. On March 2, 2000, we posted 
the availability of the revised Phase II plan and the budgets contained 
in the plan on our conformity website for the purpose of soliciting 
public comment on the adequacy of the mobile budgets. The comment 
period closed on April 3, 2000.
    On May 31, 2000, we sent a letter to DNREC that 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 budgets are 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. As a result of our 
findings, the budgets contained in Delaware's revised Phase II SIP for 
the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area may be 
used for future conformity determinations.
    This is an announcement of adequacy findings that we already made 
on May 31, 2000. The effective date of these findings is June 23, 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''). 
The website will contain a detailed analysis of our adequacy findings 
and our responses to the public comments received.
    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

[[Page 36441]]

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 of budgets in a submitted SIP 
is separate from EPA's completeness determination of that SIP, and 
separate from EPA's final action as to approve or disapprove the SIP. 
Even if we find budgets 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 May 31, 2000 
adequacy findings for the budgets contained in the Delaware's January 
24, 2000 submittal of its revised 2005 attainment plan for the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area and in its 
February 3, 2000 submittal of its Post 1999 ROP plan (2002) for the 
Delaware portion of the area. 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: June 1, 2000.
Bradley M. Campbell,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 00-14600 Filed 6-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-U