[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 131 (Friday, July 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41981-41982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17191]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[CO-001-0039; FRL-6731-3]


Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of inadequacy determination.

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SUMMARY: In this document, EPA is notifying the public that we have 
found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets in the submitted Denver 
ozone maintenance plan are inadequate for conformity purposes. On March 
2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that submitted SIPs cannot be 
used for conformity determinations until EPA has affirmatively found 
them adequate. As a result of our finding, the Denver Regional Council 
of Governments and the U.S. Department of Transportation cannot use the 
motor vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted Denver ozone 
maintenance plan for future conformity determinations.

DATES: This document is effective July 24, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Russ, Air & Radiation Program (8P-
AR), United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, 999 18th 
Street, Suite 500, Denver, Colorado 80202-2466, ph. (303) 312-6479. The 
letter documenting our finding is available at EPA's conformity 
website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/transp/conform/adequacy.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today's notice is simply an announcement of 
a finding that we have already made. EPA Region 8 sent a letter to the 
Colorado Air Pollution Control Division on June 19, 2000 stating that 
the motor vehicle emissions budgets in the submitted Denver ozone 
maintenance plan are inadequate. This finding has also been announced 
on EPA's conformity website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/transp/conform/adequacy.htm.
    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 state air quality 
implementation plans (SIPs) and

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establishes the criteria and procedures for determining whether or not 
they do. 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 motor vehicle 
emission 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 it also should not be used to 
prejudge EPA's ultimate approval of the SIP. Even if we find a budget 
adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved, and vice versa.
    We've described our process for determining the adequacy of 
submitted SIP budgets in guidance (May 14, 1999 memo titled 
``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity 
Court Decision''). We followed this guidance in making our adequacy 
determination.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: June 26, 2000.
Rebecca W. Hanmer,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region VIII.
[FR Doc. 00-17191 Filed 7-6-00; 8:45 am]
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