[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 150 (Thursday, August 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47726-47727]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19683]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[CO-001-0040; FRL-6844-2]


Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy 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 following 
submitted Colorado maintenance plans are adequate for conformity 
purposes: The Denver carbon monoxide maintenance plan, the Pagosa 
Springs PM10 maintenance plan, and the Telluride 
PM10 maintenance plan, all submitted on May 10, 2000. On 
March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that submitted State 
Implementation Plans (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, the 
Colorado Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of 
Transportation are required to use the motor vehicle emissions budgets 
from these submitted maintenance plans for future conformity 
determinations.

DATES: This document is effective August 18, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Williams, Air & Radiation 
Program (8P-AR), United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
8, 999 18th Street, Suite 500, Denver, Colorado 80202-2466, ph. (303) 
312-6431 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 July 12, 2000 stating that 
the motor vehicle emissions budgets in the submitted Denver carbon 
monoxide maintenance plan, Pagosa Springs PM10 maintenance 
plan, and Telluride PM10 maintenance plan are adequate. 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 SIPs and establishes

[[Page 47727]]

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: July 26, 2000.
Jack McGraw,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region VIII.
[FR Doc. 00-19683 Filed 8-2-00; 8:45 am]
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